If you happened to be at Capital One Arena on the night of Jan. 28 and stayed for the entirety of the game between Georgetown University and St. John’s, you have my utmost respect.
The Georgetown Hoyas (13-8, 4-6 Big East) were run off their home court 66-41 by the 15th-ranked team in the nation, the St. John’s Red Storm (18-3, 9-1 Big East), in a game that was virtually over as soon as it started.
The Hoyas desperately needed a win following another tough trip to Providence, R.I., where they fell to Head Coach Ed Cooley’s former school for the eighth consecutive time. In their first match of the season against the Red Storm on Jan. 14, Hoyas put up a good fight with a close 63-58 loss, a game in which St. John’s guard Deivon Smith did not play. He would also be listed out for this match.
Once first-year center Thomas Sorber lost the opening tip, things began to spiral for the Hoyas.
A layup by guard RJ Luis Jr., a dunk by forward Zuby Ejiofor, a three by guard Aaron Scott, a layup by guard Kadary Richmond and a jumper by Luis Jr. put the Hoyas in an 11-0 hole after just under 4 minutes of play.
The Georgetown offense looked unsettled, recording 3 turnovers during that stretch. St. John’s is a physical and athletic team that prides itself on defense, entering the match ranking 5th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. After stifling the Hoyas, they moved up to 4th in the nation.
Georgetown finally got on the board thanks to a deep ball by first-year forward Caleb Williams. Yet, Ejiofor immediately responded with a three of his own, the deficit once again in double-digits.
As the Hoya offense struggled to find good looks, the Red Storm continued to pour it on. Richmond recorded 5 points, guard Simeon Wilcher drained a three and Ejiofor scored on a fast break to push the lead to 20.
A steal-and-score by graduate forward Micah Peavy ended the Georgetown drought, but all of the energy in an already-lacking home crowd had been sufficiently drained. A short jumper by junior guard Jayden Epps prompted the Red Storm Head Coach Rick Pitino to call a timeout, showing his lack of patience for poor play from his team.
Whatever adjustments Pitino made proved unstoppable. St. John’s exploded for a 14-2 run, one in which Georgetown would fail to convert on 10 consecutive field goal attempts. Georgetown also connected on just 2 of 4 free throws during this stretch, a problem that has persisted through much of the season.
With the Hoyas trailing 37-9 with 4:30 left in the first half, ESPN’s game flow gave the Red Storm a 99.6% chance to come out on top. The largest lead of the game would come just under 2 minutes later, when a layup by guard Jaiden Glover extended the Red Storm’s lead to 30.
The Hoyas entered the second half on a 10-6 run, the score standing at 47-21. In the first half, they were 7-30 (23%) from the field, 3-11 (27%) from three and 4-9 (44%) from the line, simply a miserable offensive performance in every facet.
In the second half, Georgetown looked much more like themselves (at least defensively). They held St. John’s to just 19 points on 7-24 (29%) shooting. However, the Red Storm defense was unrelenting, forcing a 26% opponent field goal percentage and keeping the Hoyas to 20 second-half points.
Sophomore guard Malik Mack and Epps were subbed back into the game to start the second half. The Mack-Epps backcourt has struggled to synergize the offense, including in their previous game against Providence. They often dribble too long, creating an isolation set that culminates in a tough shot that often fails to find the bottom of the net.
Despite Mack’s team-leading 13 points and 3-5 (60%) shooting from deep, he also was responsible for a game-high 6 turnovers to only 3 assists. The team had 16 turnovers in total, 12 of which were steals, 5 by Wilcher alone. It’s pretty hard to win games with a 16/6 turnover/assist ratio.
After the first tilt with St. John’s, Cooley was adamant that they were the best team they had seen all season and condemned the voters for not ranking them sooner.
“For St. John’s not to be ranked, first and foremost let’s talk about that: I don’t know who some of these voters are,” Cooley said in a postgame press conference on Jan. 14. “I don’t know who has a vote, but you’re blind.”
Evidently, Cooley was on to something. The now 15th-ranked Red Storm are off to their best start since a 20-2 start in the 1985-86 season. He doubled down on his statement in the postgame press conference, giving much credit to Pitino and his team.
On the other hand, this game’s offensive performance by the Hoyas was their worst since KenPom started tracking data in 1997. A points-per-possession of just 0.59 exceeded their previous low of 0.65 in a loss to Creighton during the 2022-23 season.
“We looked like the Bad News Hoyas,” Cooley said in the postgame press conference. “They put a complete foot in our ass.”
In what should hopefully produce an energized crowd, the Hoyas are back in action on Friday, Jan. 31, against the struggling Butler University Bulldogs (9-12, 2-8 Big East). This game is a huge opportunity to right the ship against a conference bottom dweller in front of an energetic home stadium crowd.