For a team to win a game while conceding 25 offensive rebounds, it has to do everything else consistently well. For Georgetown, junior forward DaJuan Summers was that dependable presence on both ends of the floor, never giving up position inside on defense and allowing the offense to move around him and through him without forcing contested shots.

Summers’s line in the Hoyas’ 79-70 win today over Memphis was his best of the season, given the opponent. Twenty one points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds, three blocks and a steal. He also made 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and only committed two fouls.

But for everything the glowing stat sheet in front of him said, Head Coach John Thompson III thought Summers’s biggest impact was keeping his team focused and involved in a game where no team had a lead bigger than six points.

“One of his better games, I’m not sure,” Thompson said. “I think he has been playing at a very, very high level. . [You] can’t pick up this stat sheet and judge how well he has been playing, just in terms of the understanding of getting everyone involved. The understanding that he can score in a lot of different ways, the understanding of when the ball is not going in the basket, I can still have an impact and a presence.”

Summers never dominated the game; no player did. And he did not control the pace and rhythm like sophomore guard Chris Wright did. Though Memphis had a tremendous advantage in height and rebounding prowess, Summers picked errant shots off the glass at the right time. With Georgetown ahead 73-70 and just over 40 seconds to play in overtime, Memphis senior guard Antonio Anderson missed a three-pointer. Summers went around his man, along the baseline for the board that essentially ended Memphis’ hope.

Freshman center Greg Monroe and Summers saw almost all of the time in the post today against an imposing and more numerous Memphis front court. Sophomore forward Julian Vaughn saw just three minutes, and freshman center Henry Sims joined sophomore Nikita Mescheriakov on the bench for the whole game.

As essentially a seven-man rotation, the Hoyas did not look worn out by constant 2-2-1 full-court pressure, nor did they give up on rebounds. Georgetown lost the rebounding battle because Memphis is one of the best in the nation on the glass, but the Hoyas found other ways to win.

“Today right after the game I told the guys that we won this game together, no matter what the stat sheet says or how the fans look at it,” Summers said. “I think that, as a team everyone contributed when they needed to and we did the things we needed to for us to win as a team. Everyone played their position today, and that’s what we need to do as a team to win.”

Summers was active driving and getting fouled instead of settling for outside jump shots. He was 1-of-5 from three-point range, but both teams combined to shoot just 9-of-39 from deep. Summers made it to the line five times, twice on continuation calls and had ten points in the paint. Summers says he has been more conscious of his shot selection, lately.

“Just living with what the defense gives me,” he said. “I think from last year to this year, I’ve done a much better job of reading the defense and not trying to take what’s there beforehand and make up my mind beforehand.”

Because of the way Memphis plays – shoot often and collect most rebounds – and they way Georgetown and Memphis play defense, today’s game was not pretty to watch. But Georgetown and Summers executed well enough to win by staying true to form.

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Recap: Hoyas Topple Memphis in Overtime Battle

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