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

Men’s Basketball | Rematch Set Against Providence

FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA  Junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera leads all Hoyas with an average of 15.6 points per game. When Georgetown faced Providence on the road Jan. 10, he scored 15 points and earned four steals in the loss.
FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA
Junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera leads all Hoyas with an average of 15.6 points per game. When
Georgetown faced Providence on the road Jan. 10, he scored 15 points and earned four steals in the loss.

When the Georgetown’s men’s basketball team hosts Providence on Wednesday night, the team will look to accomplish what it failed to do last week against Xavier — avenge a road loss from earlier in the season. On Jan. 10, the Friars took advantage of the Hoyas’ poor free throw shooting and stagnant offense to beat Georgetown 60-57 in overtime.

Since their loss to Providence, No. 24 Georgetown (15-6, 7-3 Big East) has grown as a team, with senior guard Jabril Trawick and freshman forward Isaac Copeland emerging as reliable offensive options. However, as potent as the Hoyas’ offense has been as of late, last Saturday’s 67-40 dismantling of Creighton showed that the team’s success starts on the defensive end of the floor.

“We did a very good job of helping each other,” Head Coach John Thompson III said after his team held Creighton to just 20 percent shooting from the field. “I feel pretty good about our defense.”

Providence (16-6, 6-3 Big East), however, poses a much larger threat than last-place Creighton. Senior forward LaDontae Henton leads the Big East in scoring with 20.4 points per game while sophomore guard Kris Dunn leads the conference and ranks fourth in the nation with 7.4 assists per game. Against Georgetown earlier this season, Henton finished with 19 points while Dunn recorded 16 points and nine assists.

Henton and Dunn help Providence employ a fast-paced brand of basketball. The Friars average 70 points per game, two fewer than the Hoyas, but Providence attempts three more shots per game than Georgetown. Providence will look to speed up the game and frustrate a Georgetown team that has proven to be careless at times. The Hoyas average 13 assists and 13 turnovers per game.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to league-leading No. 7 Villanova, a win is vital to keep pace in the conference standings.
Georgetown currently sits in second place behind Villanova in the Big East standings with Providence tailing Georgetown at third place. A losing streak could see the Hoyas quickly fall from second to seventh in a tight conference.

“Now that league play has started, we’re beating each other up,” Thompson said. “The Big East is a basketball conference. We got beat up for a couple years, but here we are in year two as one of the best, if not the best basketball conference in the country.”

In Georgetown’s previous loss to Providence, Trawick finished with only three points despite playing 31 minutes. Nearly one month removed from that game, the senior has been on an offensive tear, scoring double-digit points in four of the past five games that he has been healthy enough to play full minutes in. Trawick has made his mark on the Hoyas’ victories — the senior has finished with single-digit points in all six of Georgetown’s losses this season. Copeland also disappointed in Georgetown’s first matchup with Providence as he failed to score in 10 minutes of playing time. However, the freshman has shown significant improvement and has registered 10.7 points per game since the Hoyas’ trip to Rhode Island.

Junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and senior center Joshua Smith continue to be consistent contributors on the offensive end. They each scored 15 points in the team’s previous game against the Friars. Smith-Rivera ranks fifth in the conference with 15.6 points per game, and Smith leads the Big East in field goal percentage with an impressive 65 percent. Nevertheless, while the veteran leaders’ consistency has been a primary reason behind the Hoyas’ success this year, Georgetown’s offense runs more smoothly when a third option steps up to alleviate the burden.

Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. from Verizon Center. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

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