Just because it’s early does not mean it’s not important.
The Georgetown Men’s Basketball team (2-0) will meet its first real challenge Saturday, when the Vanderbilt Commodores make the trip to the MCI Center.
After passing two early-season tests – wins at Navy and James Madison – the Hoyas will have their hands full with one of the Southeastern Conference’s rising teams. Last year Vanderbilt was 20-14, making it to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament.
Thus far in 2005, Vanderbilt is a perfect 2-0. To open the year, the Commodores defeated Jacksonville State, 67-46. More recently, they downed Furman, by a score of 81-60. They take on UNC-Greensboro tonight at 8 p.m.
Sophomore swingman Shan Foster has led Vanderbilt through their first two contests. Foster has logged 17 and 25 points in the first two games, in addition to averaging 4 points and 2.5 assists per contest. Foster, a highly touted recruit before the 2004 season, earned SEC all-freshmen honors.
Forward DeMarre Carroll, also a sophomore, has been Vanderbilt’s second leading scorer, notching eight and 18 points, respectively. Carroll is more of a threat around the basket than classmate Foster.
The Commodores two victories have come without senior point guard Mario Moore, Vanderbilt’s leader both on and off of the court. Suspended for the first two games, Moore should make his season debut tonight and then be ready to run the point against the Hoyas.
Last season, Moore was good enough to put up 13.5 points and 3.7 assists per game. In Vanderbilt’s second-round postseason-NIT match up with Wichita State, Moore netted 31 points, including nine three-pointers. For his career, the 5-foot-10 guard is a 39 percent shooter from behind the arc.
Moore is backed up by Alex Gordon, a sophomore point guard who, like Moore, is only 5-foot-10. Despite the small stature, Gordon is big on energy. He put up 30 points in a game against Tennessee last year, the first Vanderbilt freshman to score 30 since 1977.
Derrick Byars, a transfer for Virginia, is also a significant piece of Vanderbilt’s puzzle. Though 6-foot-7, Byars is a 40 percent three-point shooter and an adept passer. He has averaged 7 points, 2.5 boards, and 2.5 assists thus far.
Davis Nwankwo, a red shirt freshman, is still raw, but at 6-foot-10 will be expected to bump bodies with the Hoyas’ sophomore center Roy Hibbert down low. This should be nothing new to either of them, as the two big men were high school teammates at Georgetown Prep.
Hibbert has started Georgetown’s season with a bang. Playing their first game of the year at the Midshipmen, the Hoyas came out on top, 72-49. Hibbert led all scorers with 20 points. He also contributed 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Yesterday in a 73-66 win at James Madison, Hibbert did it again, posting another career high. He finished the night with 23 points, including 9-of-9 shooting from the line, and six boards. If the Hoyas are going to be successful this season, they will need more of the same from the 7-foot-2 Hibbert.
Sophomore forward Jeff Green, playing just 24 minutes in the blowout victory at Navy, added 13 points and seven rebounds. Against James Madison, Green managed only four points. The highly touted sophomore has shown some early season rust and will need to step it up another notch as the Hoyas take on one of the SEC’s better teams.
Ashanti Cook has been more than solid at the point so far, putting up 12 and 14 points in the two games, respectively, and he added four steals at Navy. He will, however, need to improve his passing game (zero and two assists to start the season) against the Commodores.
Brandon Bowman, Georgetown’s well regarded senior forward, has scored nine and six points in the first two games respectively. Look for Bowman’s production to increase as the Hoyas take on better competition.
In several ways, Vanderbilt’s basketball program is running parallel to that of Georgetown. Though they were never the national power that the Hoyas were, the Commodores are a young team with a rising coach, Kevin Stallings, looking to elevate themselves from a solid NIT team to a squad that contends in the NCAA tournament.
Both teams look to make a statement and take the first real step toward their ultimate goal Saturday at 1 p.m. at MCI Center.
