Georgetown-Providence: Hoyas Respond

The last eight days have been extremely tough on the Georgetown Hoyas. Having lost two of their last three, the Hoyas went into today's game against Providence looking to rebuild some confidence.

Georgetown came into today's game having lost two of the last three and winning a game on a controversial call against Villanova last Monday.

On the other side, Providence had some serious problems of their own. The Friars had lost seven of their last eight. Providence was also in need of some confidence as they are looking to built a strong case for the NIT tournament.

First Four Minutes: After winning the tip the Hoyas were out and running early. The Hoyas used their inside game to score four early points in the paint. Providence responded to the two early layups with a couple jump shots to tie the game. A Georgetown three ball gave the Hoyas an early 7-4 lead with 16 minutes left to play in the first half.

Second Four Minutes: Having built a 7-4 lead, the Hoyas went cold by missing their next three shots and turning the ball over once. After a providence three, Georgetown responded with a three of their own to retake a 10-7 lead. Two Mckenzie free throws pulled the Friars back within one at 10-9. A Georgetown free throw and a Providence jump shot tied the game at 11 with 12 minutes left.

Third Four Minutes: A Hoyas layup gave them a 13-11 advantage before the second official TV timeout at 11:21 left. Jessie Sapp scored six early points for the Hoyas but was challenged by Providences Weyinmi Efejuku, who had five. After an Efejuku jump shot ,the Friars tied the game at 13. A 7-0 Hoyas run was capped by a ridiculous ally oop with 9:04 left giving the Hoyas a 20-13 lead heading towards the eight minute mark.

Fourth Four Minutes: Providence started the next four minutes with a nice transition layup by Marshon Brooks to cut the lead to five. After a Hoyas turnover the Friars used multiple opportunities to get a jumper from the free line and McDermott cut the lead to tree. Georgetown responded on their next possession with a Roy Hibbert layup that pushed the Hoyas lead to 22-17 with 6:15 left. Efejuku continued his hot shooting by hitting a deep three, moving his point total to 10 and cutting the Hoyas lead to just two points. A Jeff Xavier three ball gave the Friars their first lead since 2-0.  Then Wallace responded with a quick two on the other end to give the Hoyas the lead back at 24-23. Efejuku continued his dominating play making two free throws to give Providence another lead at 25-24 with 4:22 left in the first half.

Last Four Minutes: A Georgetown dunk was countered by a one of two effort at the free throw line by Marshon Brooks, tying the game at 26. Wallace and Efeujuku exchanged threes that brought the game back to a 29-29 tie, with just over two minutes left. The three point basket for the Friars gave Efeujuku 15 points in the first half. Jamine Peterson converted on one of two free throws to give the Friars another lead at 30-29, closing out the first half.

HALFTIME SCORE: Providence 30 #11 Georgetown 29

Fun Stat From the Game: Georgetown's Vernon Macklin went 0-2 from the free thrown line in the first putting his total for the year at 8-38. Macklin is now shooting just 21% from the free thrown line this year and 30% for his career. Efejuku's 15 points pushed him over 900 points for his three year career at Providence.

SECOND HALF

First Four Minutes: Providence started the half right, leaving off by slamming home an early dunk before the Hoyas responded with a Hibbert basket on the other end. Providence scored another basket in the paint and then switched up the defense on the other end by going to a 2-3 zone. Georgetown responded to the change by scoring four straight points that gave the Hoyas a 35-34 lead. Providence responded the mini run with one of their own by scoring four straight points in the paint and pushing the lead back to three.

Second Four Minutes: Providence sustained the run by draining a deep three that gave them a 41-35 lead forcing he Hoyas to use a timeout. Georgetown responded out of the timeout by scoring six straight points on two threes to tie the game at 41 with thirteen minutes left. The two teams traded baskets keep the tie going into the third four minutes

Third Four Minutes: Jonathon Wallace cashed his third straight three, giving the Hoyas a six point advantage and forcing a Providence timeout. The next three put the Hoyas on a 13-2 run, giving them a game high nine point lead. Providence answered with a huge three point basket to cut it to six, trying to regain some momentum.

Fourth Four Minutes: After two Hoyas free throws, Providence hit a three pointer to cut the lead to five with just under seven minutes left. The Hoyas' good luck continued the next possession when a loose ball bounced right to Roy Hibbert under the basket for an easy eight footer. Georgetown extended their run with two free throws pushing the lead back to nine. Georgetown scored another layup giving them a 6-0 run that was broken the next possession by two Friar free throws.

Last Four Minutes: Every possession in the last four minutes ran under 16 seconds on the shot clock for Georgetown, which snuffed any hopes of a comeback for the Friars. Georgetown outscored the Friars in the second half by eleven points to give the Hoyas a 68-58 win.

Georgetown improved to 21-4 with the win and moved to 11-3 in Big East, giving them sole possession of first place. The loss dropped Providence to 3-10 in the conference and 13-13 overall. The loss was the Friars eighth in their last nine tries.