I'm not sure what happened in the respective locker rooms at half time, but Cincinnati came out completely flat and the Hoyas were willing to take advantage of that. For a long stretch of the Vesper half, if Lance Stephenson didn't score the Bearcats didn't: Georgetown went on a 32-8 run where Born Ready scored all of his team's points.
And with that, the regular season is over. The Hoyas head off to Madison Square Garden for the Big East tournament (warning: pdf), playing the winner of the DePaul-South Florida first round game at noon on Wednesday.
Let's run the numbers:
TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE . Home Visitor . Georgetown Cincinnati . 1st Half 2nd Half Total 1st Half 2nd Half Total Pace 28 35 63 Effic. 102.5 128.5 116.5 91.9 60.0 74.0 eFG% 45.0 58.3 51.7 38.3 44.7 40.8 TO% 21.2 17.1 18.9 14.1 34.3 25.2 OR% 50.0 40.0 45.5 35.0 20.0 28.6 FTA/FGA 6.7 40.0 23.3 16.7 63.2 34.7 Assist Rate 50.0 56.2 53.6 63.6 62.5 63.2 Block Rate 0.0 14.3 5.1 15.8 15.8 15.8 Steal Rate 7.1 14.3 11.0 17.7 5.7 11.0 2FG% 47.4 68.4 57.9 40.0 50.0 43.6 3FG% 27.3 27.3 27.3 20.0 20.0 20.0 FT% 100.0 83.3 85.7 60.0 33.3 41.2
The most striking aspect of this game was the rebounding. Much like the game at Louisville, Georgetown was able to neutralize the glass and take away their opponent's greatest offensive strength. The Bearcats came into the game as the 25th best offensive rebounding team in the nation (gathering 38% of their own missed shots), and it's really the only aspect of offense in which they excel.
The game started with Cinci gathering 6 offensive rebounds in their first 10 possessions (on 9 missed shots), and I thought it was going to be another game where the Hoyas just got out-toughed inside. Instead, Greg Monroe and friends were able to control the boards the rest of the way - there were 26 more available misses for Cincinnati in the game, and they only grabbed four of them [4/26 = 15%]. Nice.
The second half was an offensive showcase for Greg Monroe, as he and the Hoyas shot 12/16 on dunks, layups and tip-ins. Ibrahima Thomas picked up two quick fouls after halftime and had to sit, and the Hoyas recognized and took advantage of that.
INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS Georgetown Off % Pts Def Pts Player Poss Poss O.Rtg Prod Poss D.Rtg Allow Net Pts Wright, Chris 57 24.0 95.6 13.1 59 70.9 8.4 +4.0 Monroe, Greg 54 20.3 177.2 19.5 54 67.4 7.3 +12.1 Freeman, Austin 49 30.7 126.1 19.0 50 60.1 6.0 +11.4 Clark, Jason 51 22.6 106.0 12.2 53 76.4 8.1 +3.8 Vaughn, Julian 42 16.5 60.1 4.2 44 72.2 6.3 -1.5 Thompson, Hollis 33 10.9 92.2 3.3 31 39.2 2.4 +1.4 Sanford, Vee 16 3.3 208.7 1.1 16 70.0 2.2 -0.2 Dougherty, Ryan 2 0.0 - 0.0 2 60.0 0.2 -0.2 Benimon, Jerrelle 8 0.0 - 0.0 9 71.7 1.3 -1.3 STEPKA, Stephen 1 0.0 - 0.0 1 100.0 0.2 -0.2 Sims, Henry 7 0.0 - 0.0 6 45.0 0.5 -0.5 TOTALS 64 116.1 72.3 65 66.2 43.0 +30.8 Cincinnati Off % Pts Def Pts Player Poss Poss O.Rtg Prod Poss D.Rtg Allow Net Pts VAUGHN, Deonta 40 14.6 64.2 3.7 38 109.7 8.3 -3.6 BISHOP, Rashad 54 9.0 77.5 3.8 54 119.1 12.9 -5.6 THOMAS, Ibrahima 40 25.7 36.1 3.7 36 70.0 5.0 -2.4 STEPHENSON, Lance 58 33.7 101.4 19.8 56 118.8 13.3 +1.6 GATES, Yancy 45 21.6 67.6 6.6 46 114.8 10.6 -4.3 WRIGHT, Cashmere 21 15.3 126.9 4.1 21 140.8 5.9 -1.1 DAVIS, Larry 21 25.4 50.2 2.7 21 141.2 5.9 -4.1 WILKS, Darnell 3 0.0 - 0.0 4 128.3 1.0 -1.0 TOYLOY, Steve 21 7.9 78.8 1.3 22 99.1 4.4 -1.7 PARKER, Jaquon 22 14.7 14.6 0.5 22 79.6 3.5 -2.6 TOTALS 65 72.5 46.2 64 110.7 70.8 -24.5
Greg Monroe had as nice a game as I can remember - by my estimation, likely his best game since the first game against Rutgers. Efficient shooting [8/11 2FG, 3/4 FT], only 1 turnover and a completely dominant effort on the glass.
Austin Freeman played as if there hadn't been much going on in his life over the past two weeks. He was a bit more aggressive today than we're used to seeing [31% poss. used] but made his shots at the normal clip while playing his best defensive game in a while (all year?). A couple of weeks ago, I wondered if anyone realized what an offensive weapon he really is, but I think the past two games show what happens to the Hoyas when he is out or suffering.
Chris Wright facilitated and scored. He would have had an even better game if a couple of his layup attempts would have gone in.
Jason Clark continues to struggle with his outside shot [now 8/31 in his last 7 games] and turnovers, but contributed in other areas (including the unenviable task of being the primary cover on Stephenson). His game today showed a nice example of how to fight through a tough shooting game to remain a positive for his team.
Julian Vaughn also had tough time with turnovers. He's now run off six straight games with a negative net points stat, as I fear the Big East grind has caught up to him.
HD BOX SCORE
Cincinnati vs Georgetown
03/06/10 12:00 at Verizon Center
Final score: Georgetown 74, Cincinnati 47
Cincinnati Min +/- Pts 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A FGA A Stl TO Blk OR DR PF
VAUGHN, Deonta 23:11 -10 2/31 0- 1 0- 2 2- 2 3/27 4/12 0/38 3/40 0/20 0/18 2/19 3
BISHOP, Rashad 31:53 -19 4/41 1- 3 0- 1 2- 4 4/39 1/15 0/54 0/54 1/29 0/27 2/24 1
THOMAS, Ibrahima 24:42 - 4 5/33 2- 5 0- 1 1- 4 6/32 0/12 4/36 3/40 3/23 0/21 4/23 4
STEPHENSON, Lance 35:40 -26 23/41 10-16 1- 1 0- 1 17/43 1/ 5 0/56 5/58 0/33 4/32 3/29 2
GATES, Yancy 27:57 -28 7/30 3- 7 0- 0 1- 2 7/32 0/ 9 1/46 4/45 1/29 3/22 3/25 2
WRIGHT, Cashmere 13:11 -14 4/15 0- 1 1- 2 1- 2 3/16 3/ 5 0/21 1/21 0/14 0/12 0/ 7 3
DAVIS, Larry 15:15 -12 0/16 0- 2 0- 1 0- 0 3/18 3/ 8 0/21 2/21 0/16 2/11 0/15 0
WILKS, Darnell 01:54 - 7 0/ 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0/ 2 0/ 0 0/ 4 0/ 3 1/ 2 0/ 2 0/ 1 0
TOYLOY, Steve 12:18 - 7 2/16 1- 2 0- 0 0- 0 2/17 0/ 5 1/22 0/21 0/11 0/15 0/12 0
PARKER, Jaquon 13:59 - 8 0/12 0- 2 0- 2 0- 2 4/19 0/ 5 1/22 0/22 0/13 1/15 2/15 0
TOTALS 40:00 47 17-39 2-10 7-17 49 12/19 7/64 18/65 6/38 10/35 18/33 15
. 0.436 0.200 0.412 0.632 0.109 0.277 0.158 0.286 0.545
Georgetown Min +/- Pts 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A FGA A Stl TO Blk OR DR PF
Wright, Chris 35:54 +26 16/72 6-11 1- 4 1- 2 15/54 4/21 2/59 2/57 0/38 0/28 1/32 1
Monroe, Greg 34:02 +25 19/66 8-11 0- 1 3- 4 12/53 2/16 0/54 1/54 0/34 5/31 10/30 0
Freeman, Austin 29:44 +24 24/59 4- 8 4- 7 4- 4 15/44 3/14 2/50 2/49 0/30 0/23 2/28 3
Clark, Jason 33:03 +27 11/67 3- 4 1- 6 2- 2 10/50 1/21 1/53 4/51 0/34 4/27 1/30 0
Vaughn, Julian 23:48 +13 2/45 1- 1 0- 1 0- 0 2/34 2/16 0/44 4/42 0/27 2/18 3/23 3
Thompson, Hollis 20:51 +20 2/39 0- 3 0- 2 2- 2 5/34 2/14 2/31 0/33 2/17 1/22 3/16 2
Sanford, Vee 08:50 + 3 0/13 0- 0 0- 1 0- 0 1/12 1/ 6 0/16 0/16 0/ 6 1/ 6 2/ 7 1
Dougherty, Ryan 01:12 - 1 0/ 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0/ 1 0/ 0 0/ 2 0/ 2 0/ 1 0/ 1 0/ 1 0
Benimon, Jerrelle 07:40 - 2 0/ 5 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0/13 0/ 2 0/ 9 0/ 8 0/ 5 0/11 1/ 4 1
STEPKA, Stephen 00:41 - 1 0/ 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0/ 0 0/ 0 0/ 1 0/ 1 0/ 0 0/ 0 0/ 0 0
Sims, Henry 04:15 + 1 0/ 4 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0/ 5 0/ 2 0/ 6 0/ 7 0/ 3 0/ 3 1/ 4 0
TOTALS 40:00 74 22-38 6-22 12-14 60 15/28 7/65 14/64 2/39 15/33 25/35 11
. 0.579 0.273 0.857 0.536 0.108 0.219 0.051 0.455 0.714
Efficiency: Georgetown 1.156, Cincinnati 0.723
eFG%: Georgetown 0.517, Cincinnati 0.408
Substitutions: Georgetown 29, Cincinnati 32
2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Georgetown 1-1, Cincinnati 1-1
Layups/Tips: Georgetown 16-26, Cincinnati 11-20
Jumpers: Georgetown 5-11, Cincinnati 5-18
Fast break pts (% FG pts): Georgetown 6 (9.7), Cincinnati 0 (0.0)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Georgetown 8 (114.3), Cincinnati 6 (85.7)
Seconds per poss: Georgetown 20.3, Cincinnati 17.2
Thanks for all the work you do with this great blog.
ReplyDeleteI have a quick pet theory that I wanted to see if you folks would be interested in testing. Here goes:
We seem, to my untrained eye, to often play much better defense (and offense, although that is incidental to my question) in the second half. I wonder whether this is because JT3 consciously tells the team to play less aggressive defense in the first half, to protect our shallow benched team against foul trouble. Call it the anti-Villanova plan.
It also seems that if our frontcourt reaches the second half out of serious foul trouble, we ratchet up the defensive intensity, and become much more willing to risk fouls.
So I guess I have two questions:
1. Do we actually tend to play better defense in the second half?
2. Does this explanation sound legit to you?
No worries if you don't have time to answer this, just thought it may be an interesting question. Sorry if you have answered this already and I missed it, I don't read as regularly as I should.
Anonymous, that's actually an easy one to answer, thanks to Brian's splits here:
ReplyDeletehttp://hoyaprospectus.blogspot.com/p/georgetown-season-statistics-team.html
The explanation you propose is both logical and intriguing, but unfortunately, the Hoyas don't play better D in the second half.
They actually play substantially worse D -- 95 to 101 Defensive Efficiency.
The Hoyas are a second half team, but it is usually the offense -- 104 to 113.