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Game 19 - Georgetown (5-13) @ Villanova (8-10)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: January 16, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Finneran Pavilion, Philadelphia, PA
How to Watch: Fox Sports 1
Matchup History: Villanova leads all-time series 47-45
Last Meeting: Villanova def. Georgetown 73-57 on 1/4/23
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Georgetown +14.5
Over/Under: 142.5
Prediction: Georgetown 59, Villanova 77
Official Game Notes: HERE
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Head Coach: Patrick Ewing (6th season, 73-97 record at Georgetown)
Record: 5-13 (0-7, 11th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Lost vs. Seton Hall 66-51 on 1/10
Highlights HERE
Player to Watch: Primo Spears
We’re now up to 27 consecutive Big East losses for Georgetown. Twenty. Seven.
The latest blemish is a 15 point home loss to Seton Hall in which the Hoyas scored a season low 51 points and were without star player Brandon Murray, who missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury.
“When you’re missing an integral part of your team in Brandon Murray, I think that hurt us in terms of manufacturing offense,” Head Coach Patrick Ewing said following the defeat. “It was hard. But then defensively I didn’t think we were locked in enough to get the stops we needed.”
There’s been a consistent lack of accountability from the Hoya head coach. Georgetown ranks 346th nationally in total defense. Another of way of saying this is that there are only seven teams in the country that are worse defensively than the Hoyas.
“I’m taking the hit. Myself and my staff, we got to take the hit,” Ewing said. “We got to come up with a much better defensive plan…We have to do better and then they [the players] have to do better.”
As in so many games this season, Georgetown was competitive in the first half against Seton Hall, deadlocked at 27 at the half.
Of course, in the second half, the Hoyas fell off completely, and was outscored by 15 in the final 20 minutes. Nobody for Georgetown finished in double-figures.
Now, the Hoyas face their first repeat opponent of the year in Villanova, a team they just played 12 days ago in D.C. In that game, Georgetown was tied at the half before being outscored by 16 in the second half.
Villanova is at home coming off three straight losses since the win over Georgetown. This is a recipe for disaster for the Hoyas and unfortunately feels like the 28th straight Big East loss is almost inevitable.
Head Coach: Kyle Neptune (1st season at Seton Hall)
Record: 8-10 (2-5, 9th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Lost @ Butler 79-71 on 1/13
Highlights HERE
Player to Watch: Cam Whitmore
What has happened to Villanova?
The Cats played Georgetown just 12 days ago, and have since lost three straight to Xavier, DePaul and Butler, the last two of which were shockers.
The first year without legendary coach Jay Wright has not gone to plan for Villanova. Expectations weren’t as high as they normally are on campus, but nobody anticipated this.
Villanova is well below average in most team statistics, except for free throws. In fact, the Cats are the best free throw shooting team in the country, averaging 84% shooting from the line this year.
However, the team is 199th in points per game, dead last in blocks per game and 311th in assists per game. Some of the things the team has done well for years such as playing great defense and sharing the basketball, have fallen to the wayside.
Fortunately, they’ve got the best possible opponent in town to ‘get right.’ It was just 12 days ago that Villanova beat Georgetown by 16 in D.C.
With a game against Providence and trips to St. John’s, Marquette and Creighton coming up, it’s almost now or never for Villanova.