Is Georgetown in a slump? Some would say that a single loss on the road against a ranked team hardly constitutes a slump. Yet a closer look reveals that Georgetown’s shooting numbers have been noticeably down since the beginning of the second half against Connecticut. The No. 5 Hoyas (13-2, 3-1 Big East) have made 32 of their last 79 shots, a 40.5 percent field goal percentage. That is not terrible, but it is certainly not typical for Head Coach John Thompson III’s team. “We didn’t play well,” Thompson said about Monday night’s 69-60 loss to No. 15 Pittsburgh. “We didn’t shoot well. We had a lot of looks that had been going down this year that didn’t, and as we missed they gained momentum.” Before the Pittsburgh game, Georgetown was ranked fourth in the nation in field goal percentage, hitting at a 51.6 percent clip. The Hoyas were shooting 41.5 percent from behind the arc, the 13th best percentage in the country. Then they went out and made three of 20 shots from behind the arc against the Panthers. In order to take down a solid Notre Dame team (13-3, 3-1) at Verizon Center tomorrow, the Hoyas will need to return to their old hot-shooting ways. Two players in particular are due to hit some shots: junior guard Jessie Sapp and sophomore forward DaJuan Summers. Since Big East play started against Rutgers, Sapp has made 12 of 32 shots (37.5 percent), and Summers has made nine of 33 field goal attempts (27.2 percent). Summers went 0-for-7 from the field against Pittsburgh and 3-for-9 against UConn. any of Sapp and Summers’ recent bricks have come from three-point land. Sapp has made five of his last 17 three-point attempts (29.4 percent), while Summers has made only four of his last 17 shots from beyond the arc (23.5 percent). Does that mean they are going to hesitate to fire away from long range tomorrow? Don’t count on it. “If we’re getting open looks we’re going to take them,” Thompson said. In addition to improving their shooting, the Hoyas will need to do a much better job on the boards against the Fighting Irish. On paper, the rebounding battle looks to be a major mismatch in favor of Notre Dame. Notre Dame ranks fifth in the country in rebounding margin. Georgetown, on the other hand, is 91st. The Fighting Irish have two players who average over eight rebounds per game, sophomore forward Luke Harangody (9.6 rpg) and senior forward Rob Kurz (8.3 rpg). Harangody and Kurz also know how to score: Harangody leads the Big East in scoring with 19.3 points per game, while Kurz puts up 13.8 points per contest. Throw in junior guard Kyle McAlarney, who is averaging 14.9 points per game and scored 32 against Connecticut, and you have an excellent offensive team. “They are a very, very good offensive team,” Thompson said. “They spread you out. They have very good motion and movement.” The good news for Georgetown is that the Hoyas play outstanding defense. Georgetown ranks second in the country in field goal percentage defense and fifth in scoring defense. Seven-foot-two senior center Roy Hibbert will try to do what 7-foot-3 sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet of UConn did against the 6-foot-8 Harangody. Though Harangody scored 14 points in Notre Dame’s 73-67 victory, Thabeet’s height bothered Harangody, who ended up shooting an abysmal 5-for-23 from the field. Thompson said that slowing down Harangody will not be easy. “Harangody is playing at a very high level right now,” Thompson said. “As much as he is physical, he has finesse in his game too.” Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey agreed with Thompson’s assessment of his leading scorer. “I think he’s way underrated as an athlete,” Brey said. “He truly is a fabulous athlete with that size and strength and physicality but also great footwork, fabulous hands, nice touch and an amazing motor.” As a team, the Fighting Irish have been inconsistent of late. They lost 92-66 at Marquette on Jan. 12 then proceeded to defeat Cincinnati 91-74 on Tuesday. In the second half against the Bearcats, the Irish showed their offensive explosiveness by racking up 64 points, the most in a half by a Notre Dame team since Brey took over the program. The Fighting Irish will be looking to win their first Big East road game this season, while the Hoyas will try to avoid their first home loss of the season. Both coaches are aware of the advantage that Verizon Center will give to Georgetown. “We have a similar challenge [as playing at Marquette] – a great team and a really tough atmosphere on Saturday,” Brey said. “So we are preparing to handle that one better than we did last Saturday in Milwaukee.” Thompson agreed that the atmosphere will give the Hoyas a boost. “Our fans, our students have been terrific,” Thompson said. “Not only do we feed off of them – it’s easy when we’re playing well for everyone to get [excited]. When we’re in a lull, our fans do a great job picking us up.” Tomorrow’s tip-off is set for noon at Verizon Center.