SOUTH BEND, Ind., Feb. 16 -- There wasn't much else the Georgetown men's basketball team could do on Wednesday night against Notre Dame other than keep shooting. The Hoyas got the shots they wanted in the first half, but missed most of them and fell behind. They made those same kind of shots in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Irish, who won, 70-64.
Georgetown's three-game winning streak ended, and it fell to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big East. The Hoyas are in fifth place in the Big East and hold a one-game advantage over Notre Dame (15-7, 7-5) in the conference. Sunday's game at St. John's (8-14, 2-10) now becomes that much more important.
Notre Dame's Torin Francis works against Georgetown center Roy Hibbert. The loss ended the Hoyas' three-game winning streak.
(Joe Raymond -- AP)
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| _____ Tournament Outlook _____
A look at the local Division I colleges and their chances of making the NCAA tournament.
_____ Maryland_____
• Record: 16-10
• RPI: 39
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Duke, vs. Georgia Tech, vs. Duke
• Key Losses: vs. GW, vs. North Carolina State, at Miami, vs. Clemson
• Prognosis: Given the respect of the ACC and their RPI of 39, the Terps are likely in by winning at least two more games.
_____ Georgetown_____
• Record: 16-9
• RPI: 70
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Pittsburgh, at Villanova, vs. Notre Dame
• Key Losses: vs. Oral Roberts, vs. Temple, at St. John's
• Key Remaining Games: at Connecticut (March 2)
• Prognosis: The Hoyas are in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament unless they can beat Connecticut on the road and have a decent showing in the Big East tournament.
_____ George Washington_____
• Record: 18-7
• RPI: 78
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. Maryland, vs. Michigan State
• Key Losses: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Xavier, at Richmond
• Prognosis: Losing to Saint Joseph's at home puts a major dent in the Colonials' tournament hopes. They have an outside shot of getting an at-large bid if they advance to the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
_____ Virginia Tech_____
• Record: 14-12
• RPI: 122
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. North Carolina State, at Georgia Tech, vs. Duke, vs. Miami
• Key Losses: at VMI, at St. John's, vs. Western Michigan
• Key Remaining Games: vs. Maryland
• Prognosis: The loss to Clemson at the buzzer severely damages the Hokies' tournament dreams. They likely need to beat Maryland and advance deep into the ACC tournament to have a chance.
American, George Mason, Howard, Navy and Virginia all need to win their conference tournaments to make the tournament.
**RPI taken from http://kenpom.com/rpi.php
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"We have to bounce back from this," said junior forward Brandon Bowman, who led the Hoyas with 17 points and seven rebounds. "It's time to win; now is not a time to lose. It's February, so it's coming close to the later part of the season. You have to get W's under your belt."
Both teams need to finish the season well in order to claim at-large bids to the NCAA tournament, though Notre Dame arguably had more at stake, considering it entered the game with a lower ratings percentage index, a 6-5 Big East record and games to come against No. 18 Connecticut and No. 17 Pittsburgh. A lively crowd of 11,418 filled the Joyce Center to help the Irish; students were lined up outside of the arena in the softly falling snow nearly two hours before tip-off.
The Irish are especially dangerous when they shoot well from the outside; that was one of the keys to their 68-65 victory over previously undefeated Boston College last week. Notre Dame made 11 of 20 three-pointers in that game; against the Hoyas, the Irish converted 10 of 20.
Notre Dame made eight shots in the first half, and six came from three-point range. The Irish made 6 of 11 shots from behind the arc and 2 of 13 inside of it. They sank long shots when they were open; they even made them with defenders in their faces (junior Chris Quinn made one while being fouled).
"That's what they do," Georgetown Coach John Thompson III said. "They have shooters, and we allowed them to get some looks that if we're going to win, we can't let them get. They've got guys that if you leave them open, they're going to make shots. The beauty from where they stand is that they have a multitude of guys who can put the ball in the basket."
Sophomore Colin Falls, whom Thompson called "one of the best shooters in the country," had a rare off-night, missing his first four three-pointers and finishing 2 for 7 from beyond the arc. But senior forward Jordan Cornett, usually a 26 percent three-point shooter, made his first two three-pointers. Quinn, the Big East's best long-range shooter (49.2 percent in conference games), made all four of his three-point attempts.
The Irish also did a terrific job of getting to the foul line, where they converted 26 of 29. Senior guard Chris Thomas was 9 for 10 from the line en route to scoring a game-high 21 points, 18 of which came in the second half.
The Hoyas, meantime, watched as one outside shot after another spun around the rim and popped out in the first half (1 for 9 from three-point range). Georgetown wanted to work the ball inside to 7-foot-2 freshman Roy Hibbert, but he missed two shots inside.
Georgetown trailed, 30-17, at halftime. In some ways, it was reminiscent of their 12-point first half against Boston College late last month; the Hoyas failed to score from the floor for an extended stretch and had 11 turnovers.
However, "unlike the Boston College game [against Notre Dame], we were getting wide-open shots and easy looks. The ball just didn't go in," Thompson said. "When that happens, you tighten up. We went through a phase during the middle of the first half where because we were missing shots, we had maybe one, two, three possessions where we forced things."
Georgetown led, 9-8, following a drive by reserve guard Ray Reed with 12:27 left in the first half but did not make another shot for nearly 10:30. In that span, the Hoyas had more turnovers (eight) than field goals attempts (six), at one point giving the ball away on five straight possessions. Hibbert's baby hook at 1:58 finally ended the drought, and by that point, Notre Dame had built a 28-14 advantage.
"Our first-half defense really set the tone for the game and gave us a cushion," said Mike Brey, who won his 100th game as Notre Dame's coach. "We defended the three-point line pretty good, and we did not let them use it as a weapon."
