Sliding Back
South orange,N.J. – Coming off its worst home loss in four seasons, Georgetown is trying to prove its recent slide is an exception, not the rule.
They’ll get their next chance on Sunday afternoon at the Prudential Center as they look for their fifth straight win over a Seton Hall team that has dropped eight of nine.
Oddsmakers from Online Sportsbook Sportsbook.com have made the Georgetown -8.5 point spread favorites for Thursday’s game against the Seton Hall. Current College Basketball Public Betting Information shows that 54% of more than 184 bets for this game have been placed on the Georgetown -8.5.
No. 12 Georgetown (12-5, 3-3) opens a three-game stretch away from the Verizon Center on Sunday following Thursday’s 75-58 loss to West Virginia. It was the Hoyas’ worst home defeat since a 75-57 loss to Temple on Nov. 22, 2004.
Georgetown lost its second straight as it shot just 39.2 percent from the field against the Mountaineers, including a season-low two 3s in 16 attempts.
"We went through stretches where the ball just didn’t go in, then we got frustrated. Things seemed to snowball after that,” said Hoyas coach John Thompson III, 4-0 against Seton Hall. "Today was a blip. Today was not the norm. It hasn’t been like that."
But after Georgetown held opponents to 34.3 percent shooting and 56.3 points per game during its 10-1 start, teams are shooting 46.3 percent and averaging 73.8 points as the Hoyas have dropped four of six.
Georgetown, shooting 48.2 percent from the floor this season, made just 39.2 percent (20-of-51) against West Virginia while recording a season-low eight assists.
"Early on we were missing some shots, but you never can tell how the whole game was going to go," junior DaJuan Summers told the school’s official Web site. "I guess we tried to put the ball into the basket different ways and just tried to create different looks but it didn’t get into a rhythm. We missed shots we normally make."
Summers, shooting a career-high 51.9 percent from the floor, is averaging 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and shooting 52.9 percent in two career games against Seton Hall. He is 34 points shy of becoming the 40th player in the program’s history with 1,000 points.
Freshman center Greg Monroe, who leads the Hoyas with 6.4 rebounds per game, had another solid performance on Thursday with 11 points and eight boards. Georgetown, though, was outrebounded 39-31. The Hoyas are averaging a Big East-low 33.5 rebounds.
Seton Hall, which grabs 35.1 boards per game, has been outrebounded by an average of 9.5 during its six-game slide.
While Georgetown tries to avoid its first three-game losing streak since Feb. 12-19, 2006, the Pirates are still looking for their first conference win of the season.
Seton Hall (9-9, 0-6) dropped its sixth straight overall on Thursday, falling to Providence 98-93 in overtime.
Sophomore guard Jeremy Hazell hit seven of the Pirates’ season-best 13 3-pointers and finished with 30 points. Hazell, 12th in the nation in scoring at 22.7 points per game, missed 11 of 13 shots and scored six points as Seton Hall lost to then-No. 6 Georgetown 73-61 in the teams’ last meeting on Feb. 2.
Junior forward Robert Mitchell had 20 points and seven boards against the Friars. The Duquesne transfer is averaging 17.0 points and 9.4 rebounds during the Pirates’ 1-8 stretch.
Georgetown leads the all-time series 52-38.
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Posted: 1/25/09 12:10AM ET
