MEN’S HOOPS Pop Goes the Bubble Loss Makes Future Bleak By Mike Hume Hoya Staff Writer
Charles Nailen/The Hoya Senior point guard Kevin Braswell is surrounded by Husky defenders. The Hoyas couldn’t get past UConn, as they fell 75-74.
With the shot clock at 30 seconds and the game clock only four seconds behind, Connecticut put the ball in the hands of Caron Butler, seemingly waiting for Georgetown to intentionally foul him. That foul never came.
“I thought we had enough time left on the clock to set up a play,” Georgetown Head Coach Craig Esherick said of his decision to let the Huskies play out their possession.
As the clock ticked down, Butler held onto the ball and a one-point Connecticut lead as Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney backed away, waiting for Butler to make his move. With less than two seconds left on the shot clock, Butler took his shot, a jumper from just inside the three-point line that bounced off the rim. Georgetown guard Kevin Braswell pulled down the rebound and sprinted down-court with four seconds left, racing against the clock to get a final shot off. The clock won.
Braswell dished to teammate Gerald Riley for the last shot, but Riley’s attempt came after the buzzer. The Huskies (18-6, 10-3 Big East) prevailed 75-74, and most likely extinguished any hope of Georgetown obtaining an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With 48 seconds left and the game tied at 72, Connecticut freshman Ben Gordon received a cross-court pass from Butler and drained a three-pointer from the wing. Braswell converted two foul shots on the ensuing Georgetown possession to bring the score to 75-74, and set the stage for the game’s ending drama.
In the waning moments, Braswell and Esherick each had different ideas on the desired course of action. In the end, Esherick tried in vain to call a time out while Braswell sprinted up the court.
“Coach doesn’t want us to call timeouts in those situations,” Braswell said of Esherick’s traditional policy of forcing the defense to set up on the fly.
“[After the Georgetown rebound] I tried to call a timeout, but when Kevin was blowing out I said the heck with it,” Esherick said.
Braswell also said that he thought he had more time than he really did.
“I thought there were six seconds left on the clock. There were a couple of guys around me so I couldn’t look up [at the clock],” he said.
After leading the majority of the game, the Hoyas fell victim to a late Connecticut rally, as the Huskies surged past the Hoyas on the efforts of Tony Robertson. Robertson scored on consecutive possessions to cap a 6-0 Connecticut run and put the Huskies ahead 70-69, the first Connecticut lead since a 41-40 margin after a three-pointer by Butler at the start of the second half.
Georgetown led by as many as nine with three minutes left in the first half after a layup by freshman guard Drew Hall. After Butler’s three-pointer to open the second half, a pair of three-pointers by Braswell regained the lead for Georgetown and made the score 47-41 in favor of the Hoyas. That lead held up until Robertson’s baskets with 2:42 remaining in the game. The teams traded free throws as Sweetney reclaimed the lead, 71-70, for Georgetown on the next possession and then tied it by hitting one of two foul shots with 1:37 remaining after Connecticut’s ike Hayes converted two of his own. Gordon then capped his night of 21 points, providing the eventual game-winning margin.
Braswell led Georgetown with 19 points, while Butler topped the Connecticut scoring sheet with 23.
Connecticut largely contained Georgetown’s inside scoring threat, limiting Sweetney to a three of 12 shooting performance from the floor. Sweetney finished the game with only 16 points and eight rebounds after coming off a 31-point, seven rebound performance Saturday against Villanova. The Huskies frequently double teamed the sophomore and never gave him a clear look at the basket.
“The thing with Sweetney is, you let him loose in the lane and you’ve got trouble,” Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun said. “We realize [Wesley] Wilson is capable of a lot, but Sweentey is a major talent.”
Wilson finished the game with a double-double, adding 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The impact of forward Victor Samnick’s absence (recovering from foot surgery) showed for the second time in two games as the Hoyas went deep into their bench early after both Gerald Riley and Harvey Thomas picked up three fouls in the first half.
The loss to UConn marks the fifth game Georgetown has lost this season either by one point in regulation or in overtime. The others came at home against Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, and away against Rutgers and last Saturday’s overtime road loss to Villanova.
“I think that the way these guys have practiced we’re going to start winning some of these close games,” Esherick said.
The damage, however, may already be done. Those five losses could prove pivotal as the Hoyas now stand with a record of 15-10, 6-7 in the Big East, two marks that likely place them outside of the proverbial bubble for the NCAA Tournament. In order to break into the field, Georgetown will probably have to gain an automatic bid by winning the Big East Tournament. Esherick has not lost all hope of his team’s chances just yet however.
“When March 10th rolls around we’ll see,” Esherick said, referring to the date the Tournament field is announced. “This loss certainly didn’t help.”
