Conference: Big East
Record: 7-0
Pomeroy Rankings: 23rd Overall, 53rd Offense, 29th Defense
Best Win: 72-65 vs. Butler (nuetral court)
Coach: John Thompson III, 191-93, 123-53 at Georgetown (6th season)
Key Players:
Greg Monroe: 6-11 Sophomore Center: 15.3 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3 APG, 1.4 BPG
Chris Wright: 6-1 Junior Guard: 12.6 PPG, 3 APG, 40% 3FG
Austin Freeman: 6-4 Junior Guard: 12.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 47.6% 3FG
Scouting Georgetown:
Georgetown is a team that is very long and athletic. They play at a deliberate pace and run a Princeton style offense, predicated on backdoor cuts, layups and three pointers. Because of their size, the Hoyas are able to affect a lot of shots and hold their opponents to low shooting percentages while at the same time being pretty efficient when they have the ball. They take care of the ball, but at the same time don't force a lot of turnovers. They're a good rebounding team at both ends of the floor, but especially defensive rebounding where they're one of the best teams in the nation. Because of the size advantage they have over the Huskies, I would expect them to play man the majority of the game except for a few possessions to change it up and on inbound plays.
How to Beat Them:
This is easily the best team that the Huskies have played thus far, and may be the best team the Huskies square off against all year. Priority number one for Lorenzo Romar's squad is to take care of the basketball. Georgetown isn't a team that applies a tremendous amount of ball pressure, so the Huskies need to be deliberate when in their half court sets and make every possession count. Defensively the Dawgs need to be aggressive to try and speed up the pace, because in an uptempo game UW will have the best chance, and frankly I'm not entirely sure that they can beat Georgetown over the course of 40 minutes playing a half court game. Husky defenders have also been aggressively overplaying on the wings, leaving them vulnerable to backdoor cuts, which is not something that you can do against Georgetown because that's a cornerstone of their offense. This game will be a big test for Matthew Bryan-Amaning, as he hasn't gone against a big man as talented as Greg Monroe. The foul game between those two will be important, and whoever can stay out of trouble while maybe drawing a foul or two will give his team a huge edge. Isaiah Thomas needs to snap out of his shooting slump and Quincy Pondexter needs to continue his superb play.
Prediction:
Huskies win: 78-74
Viewing: 11:00 AM (Pacific Time) FSN, Honda Center, Anaheim California