The Georgetown University men’s basketball team was thoroughly outplayed in an uncompetitive 78-65 loss to the University of Miami Hurricanes on Nov. 28, with the Hoyas falling to 5-2 on the year.
Miami (6-2) led Georgetown (5-2) from the jump, and held the Hoyas to just 3 points in the first 11 minutes and 20 points in the first half. Georgetown never recovered from the early deficit for their second loss in as many days.
The Hoyas, coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to the University of Dayton (6-1) on Thanksgiving, remain without starting senior center Vince Iwuchukwu, who is recovering from a recent medical procedure.
From the start, it was clear the Hoyas badly missed Iwuchukwu’s size, physicality and tenacity.
The Hurricanes, led by forward Malik Reneau, had their way inside the paint all night long with 32 points in the paint and showcased a level of physicality the Hoyas simply were not able to match.
For the second straight game, the Hoyas started sluggish. The Hurricanes quickly jumped out to a 6-2 lead just over 90 seconds in, leading to a quick timeout call by Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley.
Cooley, sensing the apparent big man mismatch, swapped out sophomore center Julius Halaifonua for sophomore center Seal Diouf. Diouf, who saw little game action prior to Iwuchukwu’s absence, has quickly become an important depth piece for Cooley’s squad as the only other center listed on the roster.
However, the quick substitution did little to slow down Miami’s hot start, with the Hurricanes stretching their early lead out to 16-3 halfway through the half.
The Hoyas were in the midst of a nearly ten minute field goal drought before a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Caleb Williams cut the deficit to 9 points.Williams was one of the Hoyas’ lone bright spots, posting a season-high 23 points (8-14 FG, 5-10 3PT) while collecting 6 rebounds.
Miami, led by rookie Head Coach Jai Lucas, continued to dominate for the remainder of the first half, with Reneau posting 19 first-half points, capped off by a 3-pointer at the buzzer, punctuating Miami’s commanding 41-20 lead at the break.
Georgetown struggled on both ends of the floor to keep up with Hurricanes center Ernest Udeh Jr. Udeh Jr. went scoreless in the first half, but his 7 rebounds and off-ball movement on ball screens allowed Miami’s guards to continuously penetrate the paint with little resistance.
In the end, it was the Hurricanes who owned the paint, outscoring the Hoyas 16-2 while producing 12 points off Georgetown’s 7 first-half turnovers.
The second half saw Miami hold on to their strong advantage, with the Hoyas only being able to cut the lead to 45-30 before ballooning back to 63-39, forcing Cooley to call a timeout at the 9:22 mark after Hurricanes guard Tre Donaldson hit a pull-up jumper. Donaldson’s pace, vision and nice shooting touch frustrated the Hoyas’ defense all night, and it allowed him to finish the game with an efficient 13 points, while adding on 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
In trademark fashion for Cooley-coached squads, and similar to last night’s contest, the Hoyas did not take the loss without putting up a fight. Cooley employed a heavy full-court press, and nice pressure off the bench from junior guard DeShawn Harris-Smith and graduate guard Langston Love forced a myriad of Hurricanes turnovers. With just over 4 minutes to go, the Hoyas cut the deficit to 13 off a layup by Harris-Smith that was aided by a steal from star junior guard KJ Lewis.
However, the Hoyas were never able to get the deficit down to single digits, with the closest score being 74-64 at the 2 minute mark.
Clutch baskets from Reneau and free throws by Donaldson’s backcourt mate, guard Tru Washington, clinched the 13-point win for the Hurricanes. Washington finished the contest with 17 points on 70% shooting while adding in 6 rebounds.
In an uncharacteristically brief postgame address, Cooley said Georgetown’s performance gave him nothing to be happy about.
“Defensively, we were non-existent for 33 minutes,” Cooley said at the postgame conference. “Just an absolute ass-whooping. Call it what it was.”
“We played hard,” Cooley added. “We were outmanned, so not a lot of positives to say.”
Cooley added that he believed the loss of Iwuchukwu sapped the team’s energy, and he would give the team extra time to regroup.
“I’m going to give them back-to-back days off so we can try to soul-search a little bit,” Cooley said. “It’s clear that the loss of Vince showed in a high-level game like this.”
The Hoyas next will face the UMBC Retrievers (4-2) in a buy game for a good tune up opportunity Dec. 3, before traveling to face No. 16 University of North Carolina (6-1) Dec. 7.
