Analysis: Louisville 59, Georgetown 51

Georgetown succumbed to a ferocious 2nd half from the Louisville Cardinals, falling by 8 at a packed Freedom Hall ("the name reflects the flexibility").

By now, the template for defending the Hoyas is well-known:

• press on in-bounds plays to induce turnovers and to reduce the time Georgetown can run its half-court offense
• play an aggressive 2-3 zone
• control the glass
• hope that Georgetown misses their 3-point shots

While most teams can only write these bullets on the chalkboard in the locker room, in the 2nd half the Cardinals succeeded at all four aspects, and blew by the Hoyas as they turned an 8 point halftime deficit into an 8-point victory.

Let's run the numbers:

		Offense				Defense
	1st Half	2nd Half	Total		1st Half	2nd Half	Total
Pace	30	29	59
Eff.	103.4	68.5	86.2		76.7	123.4	99.7
eFG%	57.4	37.0	48.0		50.0	54.3	52.6
TO%	23.3	27.4	25.4		33.4	17.1	25.4
OR%	30.8	13.3	21.4		0.0	50.0	28.0
FTA/FGA	0.0	17.4	8.0		56.3	65.2	61.5
FTM/FGA	0.0	13.0	6.0		43.8	47.8	46.2
Assist Rate	64.3	50.0	59.1		85.7	45.5	61.1
Block Rate	0.0	16.7	7.1		23.1	12.5	17.2
Steal Rate	16.7	17.1	16.9		10.0	10.3	10.1
2FG%	68.8	58.3	64.3		38.5	50.0	44.8
3FG%	27.3	9.1	18.2		66.7	42.9	50.0
FT%	-	75.0	75.0		77.8	73.3	75.0

  GEORGETOWN vs LOUISVILLE  
  2/9/08 9:03pm at FREEDOM HALL, LOUISVILLE, KY  
  Final score: LOUISVILLE 59, GEORGETOWN 51
     
  GEORGETOWN              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF  
  Summers, DaJuan        23:06  - 11 5 /28 1 -3  1 -6  0 -0  9 /30 2 /10 0 /34 1 /35 0 /17 0 /18 2 /9   2   
  Hibbert, Roy           29:53  - 6  14/45 7 -9  0 -0  0 -0  9 /38 2 /12 1 /47 2 /46 2 /25 1 /19 3 /20  2   
  Wallace, Jonathan      30:02  - 13 4 /37 2 -2  0 -5  0 -0  7 /37 4 /14 1 /44 2 /45 0 /20 0 /21 1 /18  5   
  Freeman, Austin        28:13  - 4  14/37 3 -4  2 -5  2 -2  9 /38 0 /11 1 /40 3 /44 0 /21 2 /22 0 /18  3   
  Sapp, Jessie           30:05  - 5  5 /42 1 -3  1 -5  0 -0  8 /38 3 /16 1 /46 3 /48 1 /24 0 /20 3 /18  1   
  Macklin, Vernon        10:07  - 2  0 /6  0 -2  0 -0  0 -0  2 /12 0 /3  0 /12 1 /14 2 /4  0 /9  0 /5   2   
  Rivers, Jeremiah       23:32  - 2  2 /26 1 -1  0 -0  0 -0  1 /28 1 /10 1 /35 2 /32 0 /16 1 /17 3 /16  3   
  Ewing, Patrick         25:02  + 3  7 /34 3 -4  0 -1  1 -2  5 /29 1 /12 1 /37 1 /36 0 /18 2 /14 5 /21  2   
  TOTALS                 40:00       51    18-28 4 -22 3 -4     50 13/22 6 /59 15/60 5 /29 6 /28 18/25  20  
                                           0.643 0.182 0.750       0.591 0.102 0.250 0.172 0.214 0.720      
    
  LOUISVILLE              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF  
  Williams, Terrence     31:58  + 5  8 /47 3 -5  0 -0  2 -4  5 /29 1 /11 2 /48 4 /48 1 /23 1 /19 4 /23  2   
  Clark, Earl            32:12  + 7  9 /51 3 -8  1 -3  0 -0  11/32 1 /11 2 /50 2 /49 1 /25 1 /20 6 /20  0   
  Padgett, David         28:30  + 15 18/49 5 -8  0 -0  8 -10 8 /28 4 /11 1 /42 3 /42 0 /20 1 /14 3 /22  3   
  Sosa, Edgar            21:37  + 8  2 /29 0 -3  0 -2  2 -2  5 /20 0 /9  0 /29 3 /31 0 /16 0 /12 2 /14  1   
  Smith, Jerry           30:42  + 17 16/53 1 -1  4 -5  2 -2  6 /32 3 /12 2 /45 1 /45 0 /21 1 /17 1 /23  1   
  Knowles, Preston       09:46  - 9  1 /6  0 -0  0 -0  1 -2  0 /7  0 /1  1 /15 1 /14 0 /7  2 /8  0 /6   0   
  Palacios, Juan         15:22  + 4  2 /20 1 -2  0 -0  0 -0  2 /17 1 /6  0 /22 1 /21 0 /8  0 /11 2 /12  0   
  Caracter, Derrick      11:30  - 7  1 /10 0 -1  0 -0  1 -2  1 /11 0 /2  0 /18 0 /17 0 /8  0 /11 0 /6   2   
  McGee, Andre           18:23  + 0  2 /30 0 -1  0 -0  2 -2  1 /19 1 /9  2 /31 0 /28 0 /12 0 /13 3 /14  3   
  TOTALS                 40:00       59    13-29 5 -10 18-24    39 11/18 10/60 15/59 2 /28 7 /25 22/28  12  
                                           0.448 0.500 0.750       0.611 0.167 0.254 0.071 0.280 0.786      
     
  Efficiency: LOUISVILLE 1.000, GEORGETOWN 0.850
  eFG%: LOUISVILLE 0.526, GEORGETOWN 0.480
  Substitutions: LOUISVILLE 23, GEORGETOWN 37
     
  2-pt Shot Selection:  
  Dunks: LOUISVILLE 4-4, GEORGETOWN 2-2
  Layups/Tips: LOUISVILLE 7-14, GEORGETOWN 5-7
  Jumpers: LOUISVILLE 2-11, GEORGETOWN 11-19

Comments about the numbers:

• The game pace was very deliberate, slower than even Georgetown averages (62.6 Adj. Pace coming into the game). The Hoyas do tend to play much slower on the road, perhaps in an effort to take their opponents' crowd out of the game.

• While the 1st half efficiency numbers look typical for a Hoya game, the 2nd half was easily the worst of the season for the club, by net efficiency - yes, even worse than the 2nd half in Memphis.

• The key to the 1st half defensive effort was defensive rebounding (Louisville had 0 offensive rebounds in the 1st half) and turnovers. Note the difference between the TO Rate and Steal Rate, however; this indicates that many of the Cardinal turnovers in the 1st half were self-inflicted.

• In the 2nd half, Louisville cut their TO Rate in half and gathered fully half of all missed shot attempts. This meant that Georgetown's two defensive advantages were gone. Meanwhile, the Hoyas were only able to get 2 of 15 available offensive rebounds. Credit the obvious increase in intensity with which the Cardinals started the 2nd half.

• It may not have seemed that way, but Georgetown shot 2FGs well in both halves, finishing the game well above their season average of 57.2%.
  

• To put it kindly, 3FG shooting was a problem for the Hoyas tonight. In their three losses at Memphis, Pittsburgh and Louisville, Georgetown has shot 3-14, 3-20 and 4-22 respectively (total: 10-56 [17.6%]). In their 19 wins, the Hoyas have shot 3FGs at a clip of 155-390 [39.7%]