Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Hoyas’ Hopes Fade Following Home Loss to Cardinals

In order to earn a potential at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Hoyas sorely needed a win over No. 6 Louisville (22-5, 13-2 Big East) on Monday night at Verizon Center.

That did not happen.

The Hoyas were outplayed from start to finish and fell to the Cardinals 76-58. Georgetown (14-12, 5-10) now needs to make a deep run in the Big East tournament to have a shot at making the NCAA tournament field.

“We have to play significantly better than we did today,” Head Coach John Thompson III said after the game.

Louisville junior forward Earl Clark led all scorers with 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Senior forward Terrence Williams added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinals, who outrebounded Georgetown 34-27 in the game.

Louisville looked like the better team from the opening tip. In fact, the Cardinals were nearly perfect for the first 10 minutes of play. They went 9-for-9 from the field to start the game, racing out to an early 26-13 lead. A three-pointer by Clark with 3:05 remaining in the first half gave Louisville a 41-24 lead, its largest lead of the half.

“Obviously, they played well,” Thompson said. “I felt like they got open shots and they put them in the basket.”

However, led by senior guard Jessie Sapp, Georgetown closed the gap to 10 heading into the locker room. Sapp scored the Hoyas’ last seven points of the half, punctuated by a deep three-pointer as time expired.

Sapp screamed and pounded his chest after he hit the shot, but the Hoyas did not do much celebrating after that. Georgetown never sustained a run in the second half, as the Cardinals led by at least eight points for the remainder of the game.

The Hoyas shot just 31 percent from the field in the second half and went 3-for-16 from long range in the game. The Cardinals, meanwhile, shot lights out from beyond the three-point arc, making their first seven three-pointers and 8-of-12 overall.

Georgetown sophomore guard Chris Wright, who led Georgetown with 12 points, said that the Hoyas tried to limit their three-point attempts by taking the ball to the hoop in the second half.

“Everybody wanted to try to attack the basket, try to get to the free-throw line, try to get their big men in foul trouble, get some second shots and not die by the three,” Wright said.

But the Hoyas failed to consistently score inside and did not get the defensive stops they needed. Georgetown junior forward DaJuan Summers played perhaps his worst game of the season, scoring just 4 points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino blamed the Hoyas’ recent struggles on their inexperience.

“Georgetown is going to be great,” Pitino said. “They came off back-to-back Big East championships, but they’re young, and young teams don’t win consistently in the Big East.”

The Hoyas have now lost nine of their last 11 games. But Thompson sounded optimistic in the postgame press conference, pointing out that Georgetown can still make the NCAA tournament by winning the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.

“Is this frustrating? Absolutely, absolutely,” Thompson said. “But we’ve got a chance to grow, we’ve got a chance to improve, and we get to go to New York and play.”

The Hoyas’ next game is at Villanova on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for noon.

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