Charles Nailen/The Hoya Gerald Riley starred in Georgetown’s effort against Miami on Saturday night. With a game-high 35 points, Riley led the Hoyas to a 87-80 overtime victory for the team’s third Big East win.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – While their press got them back in the game, Gerald Riley won it for the Hoyas, beating the Miami Hurricanes 87-80 in overtime.
The Georgetown men’s basketball team let Miami (13-8, 3-4 Big East) get out to a 12-point lead in the middle of the second half, and the Hoyas had to win it back the hard way. Their pressure caused Miami turnovers and allowed for easy layups, getting them back to a three-point lead with less than a minute left in regulation. But senior forward Darius Rice nailed a three-pointer that took it to overtime, where senior guard Riley took over.
He scored seven of his career-high 35 points in overtime, using two layups, a three-pointer and one steal to get Georgetown up 81-78. Sophomore forward Brandon Bowman, who scored 22, made two free-throws with 1:18 left to put Georgetown up by five and the game out of reach for Miami.
The win could not have come at a more critical point in the season for Georgetown (12-5, 3-4 Big East). The Hoyas had lost five of their last six, including double-digit beatings by No. 1 Duke, No. 6 Connecticut and No. 23 Providence.
“We needed a win bad,” Head Coach Craig Esherick said.
Getting an in-conference road win in the manner the Hoyas did Saturday had proved difficult in the past. Last season, Georgetown was plagued by close losses, but this year, they have beaten Penn State by one and St. John’s by two.
“It was very important as far as confidence,” junior forward Darrel Owens said. “Today we showed a lot of poise, and we got our swagger back.”
Georgetown had the kind of breakout shooting performance that Esherick has been claiming they have been capable of all season long. The team shot 58.8 percent, the highest shooting percentage iami has allowed this season. Georgetown also did damage from long range, going 8-for-16 from behind the three-point line.
From the start of the season, Esherick had said that without a dominant big man, the Hoyas would become a perimeter-oriented team of distance shooters. That worked against the early-season opponents, but since starting conference play the Hoyas were averaging 36 percent from the floor.
Riley had been in a slump until Monday’s loss to Providence, in which he scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting. He followed that up with a dominant performance Saturday, when he shot 13-of-17 with three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“Gerald just showed leadership. He showed what he’s capable of doing – just what a senior’s supposed to do, lead his team to victory,” Owens said.
In the first half, the Hoyas’ offensive game plan was to push the ball up the court and look for corner three-pointers from Riley or Owens, who both had the option of driving to the basket if the shot was not there. That part of their plan worked well and kept the Hoyas close, with the halftime score tied at 29.
But, in just two minutes and 10 seconds, Miami went on a 12-2 run and got out to a 12-point lead, 56-44, with 10:22 left to play. Shortly after that Georgetown started its press.
“We were trailing, and we needed to put pressure on,” sophomore point guard Ashanti Cook said. “We had to put a little heat on them.”
It worked, as Miami started to turn the ball over, and the Hoyas capitalized with layups. With 2:52 left, the Hoyas were within one.
“We got down 12 in the second half, and we did not quit,” Esherick said. “We got back in the game with our full-court defense.”
Miami was not without its chances at the end of regulation and overtime, but it turned the ball over and missed shots when it counted.
Georgetown was up by three points with 42.9 seconds remaining in regulation. Miami sophomore guard Rob Hite missed a three-pointer, but junior forward William Frisby put it back. Georgetown then pushed the ball down the court, and freshman guard Ray Reed drove for a layup.
On the other end, Rice made his big three-pointer to tie the contest, and Georgetown called a timeout with 7.9 seconds remaining. It was the fifth time in his career Rice has made a three-pointer at the end of the game to win or force overtime.
Georgetown inbounded the ball to Cook, who dribbled around the perimeter with no one to pass to as time expired.
The overtime period added extra fatigue to the Hoyas, who are not particularly deep. Senior center Courtland Freeman fouled out with 5:25 to go in regulation, but Bowman played all 45 minutes, Owens played 42 and Riley was in for 43.
“This team fought hard today,” Riley said.
Miami’s Darius Rice, who averages 41 percent from the floor, had trouble getting points inside within Miami’s offensive set, but displayed his athleticism by turning several offensive rebounds into dunks. He finished with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
Miami was coming off consecutive losses to Villanova and Notre Dame.
It was Georgetown’s second visit to Miami’s Convocation Center, the on-campus arena that opened last January. The arena seats 7,000, though the attendance average is just 2,238, the lowest of any Big East team. Saturday’s game, however, was an exception, drawing a crowd of 5,193.
Georgetown next faces Villanova on Thursday at MCI Center at 7:30 p.m.
