WASHINGTON, D.C. -- If there's been a constant with Georgetown men's basketball over the years, it is its incessant defense. The Hoyas always feature aggressive, trapping defenders who can drive opponents mad.
For some reason, that trademark defense hasn't always been present this season. Big East opponents averaged 77 points through the Hoyas' first 12 games, and coach Craig Esherick's team won just four during that stretch. But last night at the MCI Center, the Hoya defense returned. Georgetown limited a shaky Providence College team to a season-low pointsd total and a season-high in turnovers, posting a 71-56 victory in the process.
"Defensively, we played good the whole game," said Esherick. "We played good man-to-man, but we played some matchup zone, and we haven't really played that defense much all season. This is a good win for us."
The win is Georgetown's second in a row and improved the Hoyas' record to 13-11 and 5-8 in the Big East. Mike Sweetney scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. Gerald Riley (19 points) and Victor Samnick (12) also hit double figures.
Providence's weak offensive effort seemed to come as a bit of a shock to a group that came into the game riding a three-game winning streak. PC played at Georgetown's quicker pace the whole game and threw the ball away 25 times. The Friars, now 13-12 overall and 5-8 in the conference, shot just 38 percent from the field.
"They got up on us and we just didn't handle the ball well at all," said PC coach Tim Welsh. "They changed defenses on us and kind of confused us out there. We didn't play with a lot of confidence, almost like we were soft offensively. We were tentative."
Ryan Gomes led the Friars with 21 points and eight boards but he also contributed five turnovers to the affair. Tuukka Kotti added 12 points, but no other Friar was a factor on offense. Guards Donnie McGrath and Sheiku Kabba played especially poorly against the active Georgetown defense, combining for 11 turnovers, three assists and only nine points.
"Guys looked nervous, or something. I don't know what it was," said center Marcus Douthit. "They were on us from the start."
The Friars were clearly bothered by Georgetown's quickness and trapping ability on defense. The quick pace of the game threw PC into a tailspin right out of the gate. The Friars led 5-4 early but didn't score for another 5:40 and began the game shooting 2-of-10 with seven turnovers.
Georgetown went up 14-5 before PC started clawing its way back. Whenever the Friars ran their offense and remained calm, good shots followed. PC scored eight straight points to cut the lead to 14-13. Georgetown came right back with eight unanswered points, but a McGrath 3-pointer and a hoop and free throw by Gomes (11 first-half points) kept the Friars close.
PC's inconsistent offensive effort continued, however, with the Friars throwing the ball away a whopping 14 times. But even with those grisly numbers, the Friars trailed by only one at the break, 33-32.
"At halftime, Coach said that was the worst we played all year, but they were only up one," said Douthit. "We had to play better, but we really didn't."
The key stretch of the game came right out of the gate in the second half. The Hoyas opened with an impressive 14-2 run where they repeatedly found Sweetney in the teeth of the PC zone. The Friars were forced to switch to man-to-man at times as Riley and Brandon Bowman knocked down jumpers, but that made Sweetney even more of a factor.
Georgetown led 49-36 at one point but couldn't put the Friars away. After scoring just 12 points over the first 12 minutes of the half, PC showed some spark. Gomes scored inside, Kabba swished a wing 3-pointer and Kotti knocked down two free throws to cut the lead to 54-49 with 5:26 left.
But Georgetown then bounced right back, landing the knockout punch. The Hoyas scored the next eight points to mount a 62-49 lead. More importantly, the Hoyas' defense held the Friars scoreless over the next 3:10 as the home team closed the game with a 17-7 run.
"It was important to finish a game," said Esherick. "We kept our composure when they cut it to five and didn't buckle out there. We made some great judgments down the stretch, and that has to help our guy's confidence."
