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Game 6 - Georgetown (3-2) vs. American (2-2)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: November 23, 2022
Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
Venue: Capital One Arena
How to Watch: Fox Sports 2
Matchup History: Georgetown leads all-time series 47-8
Last Meeting: Georgetown won 79-57 on 11/16/21
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Georgetown -14.5
Over/Under: 138
Prediction: Georgetown 73 American 54
Official Game Notes: HERE
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Head Coach: Patrick Ewing (6th season, 71-86 record at Georgetown)
Record: 3-2 (0-0 in Big East)
Last Time Out: Defeated La Salle 69-62 on 11/20
Highlights: HERE
Player to Watch: Primo Spears
It should be a relatively quiet week for Georgetown...hopefully.
The Hoyas host fellow-DMV team American at Capital One Arena in a morning game the day before Thanksgiving before playing host to UMBC on Saturday. GU will be heavily favored for both contests (even though UMBC has won an NCAA Tournament game more recently than Georgetown).
Head coach Patrick Ewing was on the hot seat before the season began and that seat seems to only be getting hotter. The Hoyas have been outscored by 56 points in the second half over the past three games.
In the matchup with La Salle, Georgetown blew a 20 point halftime lead as the Explorers came back to tie it before the Hoyas pulled away for the win.
Georgetown’s got to make halftime/in-game adjustments. If a team figures out the 2-3 zone, you need to change the defense. If a team has made nine three’s in the second half (as LMU did last Friday), you need to adjust. Need to see a lot more in that department.
My player to watch for Georgetown is point guard Primo Spears. Before the Jamaica Classic, Spears was leading all Big East players with over 23 points per game. In Jamaica, however, he scored 12 points and was 4-24 from the field over both games combined.
Fortunately, he’s got two ‘get right’ games this week back in D.C. The Hoyas are going to need their point man to score, maybe somewhere between his output over the first three games vs. the past two.
Head Coach: Mike Brennan (10th season, 110-152 record at American)
Record: 2-2 (0-0 in Patriot League)
Last Time Out: Defeated NJIT 58-53 on 11/19
Highlights: N/A
Player to Watch: Johnny O’Neil
American has seven players that score at least 6 points per game, while only having two that average in double-figures. Junior guard Collin Smalls is the team's leading scorer, averaging just 11.7 points per game.
The Eagles spread the wealth better than any team Georgetown has faced this season.
Like Patrick Ewing, American head coach Mike Brennan is seemingly on the hot seat. In his first season in 2013-14, the Eagles made the NCAA Tournament. They haven’t been back since, while finishing below .500 five of the past eight seasons.
Expectations are low for AU, but I kind of like this team. They spread the wealth and have played a nine man rotation through four games, with those nine players averaging at least 11.5 minutes per game.
The Eagles came out of the gate with two straight losses, falling to Marist by four and George Mason by 17 before taking down William & Mary by seven and NJIT by five to arrive at the 2-2 record.
My player to watch for AU is Johnny O’Neil. The 6-9 junior forward is fifth on
the team in scoring with 8.8 points per game, but is averaging 3 blocks per game, which is tied for 11th in the country. He’ll be key for the Eagles to try and find success and force an upset at Capital One Arena.
This is a weird game. It’s a DMV battle at 11:30 a.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and will likely be played in front of the lightest crowd of the year. Energy will be low, but I expect Georgetown to come out with a point to prove and get the win. The Hoyas are too big and too talented and should pull away late to improve to 4-2 on the year.