Eagles Try to Put Game Faces Back on for Hoyas

The glow from their surprising victory over Maryland had faded by the time the American University basketball players gathered inside their locker room for a team meeting Wednesday evening. But Coach Jeff Jones wanted to make sure that his players had indeed moved on, so he wrote the following on the board inside the room: 88-51. He asked his players what it meant.

"They were guessing all kinds of stuff," said Jones, whose team faces eighth-ranked Georgetown today at Verizon Center. "I think the first guess was, that's what everybody thinks Georgetown is going to beat us by."

The numbers actually referred to the final score of a game between Ohio and No. 3 Kansas that was played Dec. 15. The significance? Three days before getting blown out in Kansas, Ohio beat the Terrapins, 61-55, in College Park. The message?

"We've got to be ready, because Georgetown is really good, and they are capable of beating us that way," Jones said.

But the Eagles (7-5) deserved a moment to savor their 67-59 victory over Maryland, their first over the Terrapins in 80 years, before preparing for the Hoyas (8-1). The Christmas holiday allowed the players to handle all of the congratulatory messages.

Neil Kerwin, the university's president, e-mailed Jones. Former players Andre Ingram (now with the Utah Flash of the NBDL) and Raimondas Petrauskas (now playing for Leuven in Belgium) left messages, which Jones described as especially meaningful. All told, Jones estimated he received nearly 100 messages in various forms -- e-mails, phone calls, texts -- and he has tried to respond to every one.

"Being a smaller program, you're not in that spotlight as often, so when you do get that opportunity, you don't want to waste it," said Jones, who still had about a dozen e-mails to reply to as of Thursday afternoon. "I tried to get back as best I could to everyone. I wanted to take advantage of the situation we're in right now, but at the same time, try to keep our balance."

That's important, considering that the Eagles are currently in the midst of a seven-game road swing, the longest in school history. The last time Jones scheduled such a long road stretch -- American played six games away from Bender Arena to open the 2005-06 season -- the Eagles didn't pick up a single win, and they needed several weeks to regain their confidence.

Now the Eagles have confidence, but they need to find a way to sustain it because Patriot League play doesn't begin until Jan. 12. American lost four starters and five of the top six scorers from last season's team that finished tied for third in the league, so this squad is, in senior forward Travis Lay's words, "still a work in progress."

The Eagles force opponents to be attentive and disciplined on defense, according to Georgetown Coach John Thompson III, because of the way they move and screen on offense, and their willingness to work for quality shots. Junior Derrick Mercer, a 5-foot-9 guard, personifies the Eagles, in some ways: He's undersized, but he plays tough and smart. Against Maryland, Mercer and his teammates were poised.

"We learned that if we come in and play the way we know how to play, play together and play hard, you can win big games," said Mercer, who is averaging a team-high 15.4 points on 52 percent shooting. "If you take care of the ball and be more aggressive, you can win the game. It's possible. From that win, we built confidence in ourselves and hopefully the confidence will lead into Georgetown."

The program is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its most significant victory, a 62-61 upset over No. 5 Georgetown on Dec. 15, 1982. Players and coaches from that team, along with other prominent figures in program history such as Kermit Washington and Chris Knoche, are expected to attend a pregame brunch.

Jones doesn't plan on using that upset as a motivational tool, even though this Georgetown team, much like the one 25 years ago, is coming off of a loss to a highly ranked opponent (No. 2 Memphis; it was No. 1 Virginia in 1982).

"We could watch 'Hoosiers,' we could watch 'Rocky,' we could watch 'Cinderella Man' -- they're all the same [message]," Jones said. "While that is probably AU's greatest moment in basketball, there's not a whole lot we can draw from that, other than, 'Look, it can be done.' "

But the Eagles already know that, after what happened last Saturday inside Comcast Center. And now they've been warned about what can happen if they're not prepared to play.

"Coach Jones put us in check," Mercer said. "He just let us know that we have to let that win get behind us. It was a great win, but we have to focus on Georgetown."