Georgetown Gets Much-Needed Quality Win for March Resume with Villanova Beatdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The absent look on Ryan Arcidiacono's face said it all.

The Villanova guard sullenly stared into the base of the microphone during the postgame press conference as if it were 500 miles away.

"Georgetown didn't surprise us," he said, but he seemed at least as shocked as the rest of the country that his No. 4 Wildcats were blown out by the unranked Hoyas 78-58 on Monday night.

Early on, it felt like we were headed for a classic Big East showdown. For the first 10 minutes, points came at a premium while whistles and flying bodies were commonplace.

Then Georgetown blew the game wide-open with a 17-0 run late in the first half.

"That was maybe as good of a defensive stretch as we've had in a long time," Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said. "We were so good on defense that it spilled over to offense."

That's an understatement.

Georgetown scored 16 points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes and absolutely decimated the Wildcats inside. Were it not for back-to-back buckets by Daniel Ochefu late in the first half, Villanova wouldn't have scored a single point in the paint before the intermission.

Part of that was the play of fifth-year senior Joshua Smith.

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Much has been written about his weight and conditioning issues over the years, but he has been great in the post this season and did something right before halftime that would have been unthinkable two years ago.

With Georgetown holding a 23-point lead, Smith received an entry pass on the low block only to fumble it a bit before it caromed out of bounds. Rather than shrugging before strolling back to the defensive end of the court, Smith sacrificed his body, diving into a billboard to try to make up for his mistake.

It was an absolutely terrifying moment for the people seated behind the billboard (which lost the battle), but also a moment that serves as a reminder that Smith—who transferred away from UCLA in the middle of the 2012-13 season and who was ruled academically ineligible for the second semester of last season—is finally committed to doing whatever it takes to help his team win.

His running mate in the paint was of even greater value, as Mikael Hopkins seemed to be everywhere for the Hoyas.

Every time Villanova tried to get the ball inside to Ochefu or JayVaughn Pinkston, Hopkins was right there to force a bad shot or a turnover. Even when he had two first-half fouls and the Wildcats were driving at him hoping for a third, he continued contesting shots left and right.

Hopkins didn't even score a point until the second half, but it was his rebounding, passing and defense that seemed to key the run that allowed Georgetown to pretty much coast to its first really big win of the season.

It's about time, too.

The Hoyas came awfully close on several occasions. They blew a late lead against Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. They were within one point of Kansas with less than a minute remaining before coming up short.

But there was no chance they were letting this one slip away.

"We just wanted to come out and play Georgetown basketball," said senior guard Jabril Trawick, "And I think that's what we did."

And the crowd certainly appreciated it.

With 32 seconds remaining, Smith and Isaac Copeland waved their arms to amp up the student sections, but it merely threw gasoline on a fire that was raging all night long.

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"Tyler's better," they chanted at Dylan Ennis during free throws just seconds into the game—a reference to his younger brother already in the NBA. He ended up being just one of several Villanova players who seemed rattled by the raucous atmosphere.

"Safety school!"

"Overrated!"

The fans held nothing back before ultimately storming the court.

The only thing that didn't work for Georgetown on Monday night was the T-shirt cannon.

The freshmen, in particular, thrived.

Copeland hit the game-winning three-pointer against Butler over the weekend and carried that momentum into a career-high 17 points Monday night. Paul White added nine points without missing a shot, and L.J. Peak had eight points.

That's 34 points for a freshman class not getting nearly the national recognition it deserves.

Can they keep it up in a conference that has been nothing short of topsy-turvy?

"I don't like (the parity) tonight," said Villanova head coach Jay Wright, "But I'll like it tomorrow."

The Hoyas are now in sole possession of first place in the Big East, but they are one of five teams with two losses—including DePaul, which should really tell you just how unpredictable things have been in the conference.

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Georgetown is 4-0 at home in conference play, but six of the next 10 come on the road, including the rematches with Butler and Villanova.

Defense always travels, though, and if they play with the tenacity that they had at home Monday night, the Hoyas have more than enough talent and depth to win any conference game, regardless of location.

They're finally over the hump with a high-quality win. If the freshmen keep playing this well and Smith keeps looking this engaged, the Hoyas could find themselves as one of the Big East's top dogs heading into the postseason.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @kerrancejames.