Hoyas Outlast WVU
February 12, 2005 06:32 PM | General
February 12, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Georgetown freshman Jeff Green was as good as advertised Saturday afternoon. The 6-foot-8 Hyattsville, Md., native scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Hoyas to a 67-60 victory over West Virginia at the MCI Center.
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| Georgetown's Darrel Owens (20) blocks the shot by West Virginia's Tyrone Sally (4) during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, in Washington.
AP Photo/Nick Wass |
Brandon Bowman added 15 points and Ashanti Cook contributed 12 to help Georgetown improve to 16-6, 8-3 and make it an NCAA tournament contender.
West Virginia (14-8, 4-7) was struggling from the effects of the flu that has been hampering several members of the team and it showed in the game. The Mountaineers were unable to secure several loose balls and most 50-50 opportunities wound up going to a well-rested Georgetown team that had a week off between games.
“There were too many rebounds that we did not get,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “Frankly, we’re not tigers on the board and we all know that. But there were too many times that we had our hands on basketballs and we just didn’t get them.”
A key point in the contest came with 2:42 left when, following a Georgetown timeout, Darrel Owens nailed a three as the shot clock was winding down to give the Hoyas a 57-54 lead.
“They just made a little bit of penetration (on Owens’ shot),” said Beilein. “Maybe we should have went man at that point. Mike just missed the pass and they kicked it back out.”
Then, Mike Gansey was stripped of the basketball trying to make a move toward the basket and the ball wound up in Rashawn Reed’s hands for a breakaway dunk to turn what was a tied game into a five-point Georgetown lead.
“We had an opportunity but with the turnover and the run-out (basket) we were chasing from that point on,” Beilein said.
West Virginia, in the midst of a 4:20 scoring drought, finally scored when Beilein hit three with 1:10 left to cut Georgetown’s lead to four, 61-57.
The Mountaineers had one more shot at taking the lead following a Jonathan Wallace miss from the top of the key that turned into a Tyrone Sally layup with 28 seconds left.
After the Sally basket West Virginia called a 30-second timeout to set up its defense. Georgetown was able to beat the Mountaineers’ full-court pressure and Brandon Bowman was able to score an easy layup to make it 63-59, Georgetown.
At the other end Kevin Pittsnogle tried a difficult three-point attempt from the corner that Jeff Green was able to rebound. Green knocked down both foul shots to put Georgetown up by six.
West Virginia owned the game’s biggest lead at 16-8 early in the first half.
Kevin Pittsnogle was the only West Virginia player to reach double figures with 10 points. Patrick Beilein and D’or Fischer, who was saddled with early foul trouble, each scored nine.
“I think when D’or had to sit and watch the whole first half I don’t think it helps his rhythm for what he’s doing,” said Beilein. “He continues to get plagued by fouls. He just has a habit of putting his hands out and we’ve worked on him endlessly and he can’t stop the habit.
“The fouls just rack up on him so quickly,” Beilein continued. “I don’t mind him going over the back for a rebound but he has some instinctual things that he has to work on and he’s got to pick up on some of those things.”
Sally, who scored 15 during Wednesday night’s win over Providence, could manage just seven Saturday.
“He was pretty tired and he was really a hurting guy today,” Beilein said. “I really got after him when he missed one rebound and it probably wasn’t appropriate with the way he was feeling. It was a tough loss for us but if it helps us in the Big East tournament against them or someone else we’ll learn from it.”
West Virginia made 23 of 55 field-goal attempts for 41.8 percent and hit eight of 21 from three-point range for 38.1 percent.
Georgetown went to the free throw line 10 more times than West Virginia and wound up making 12 to the Mountaineer’s six.
West Virginia remains on the road to face St. John’s next Wednesday night. That game will tip off at 7 pm.
