Georgetown Hoyas at West Virginia Mountaineers (-5.5, 137.5)
Georgetown (19-8, 9-7 Big East) tries to get back on the winning path and notch a quality road win tonight when it heads to Morgantown. The Hoyas have plummeted to seventh in the conference standings.
Meanwhile, West Virginia (22-6, 11-5) looks to secure third-place in the conference standings with a win today. The Mountaineers have a tough game to close the season, playing at Villanova on Saturday, but can earn a bye in the first two rounds of the postseason tournament with a win tonight.
What’s a Hoya?
A rock – as in these Hoyas are sinking like a rock. Georgetown was regarded as perhaps the best team in the Big East early in the season but has since fallen to the middle of a packed conference.
The Hoyas have lost three of their last four games and two of them were not good losses. They lost at Rutgers and then again on Saturday as a double-digit favourite at home against Notre Dame (without Luke Harangody).
Ouch.
The Hoyas shot 51 percent in the game but didn’t defend. The Irish shot 57 percent from the floor in the game leaving Georgetown with just 20 total rebounds. Patrick Ewing must be rolling over in his grave.
Georgetown was once 11-1 and there was talk about landing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas will still be in the dance but the wheels have fallen off.
Last meeting
Due to an unbalanced Big East conference schedule, this is the only time these two teams will meet this season. Last year West Virginia hammered Georgetown 75-58 as a 5.5-point favourite. The last two games in this series have gone over the total after four straight went under.
That makes me sick
Georgetown leading scorer Austin Freeman scored just five points in Saturday’s loss to ND. He played 23 minutes but was battling a stomach flu and looked sluggish.
He was given an IV before tip-off and did not start. How much better he feels tonight will be a factor.
Big Monday, a big headache
This will be the second straight week that West Virginia plays on Monday night after playing a Saturday game and it is the third Big Monday game for the Mountaineers. The quick turnaround was a focal point for coach Bob Huggins’ plans.
“We’ve prepared for stretches like this,’’ point guard Joe Mazzulla said. “That’s where the three-hour practices come in and the mental aspect and the things Huggs demands from us.’’
Still, the Mountaineers have lost both prior Big Monday games (against Villanova and UConn).
“Everybody wants to do it,’’ Huggins said after West Virginia polished off Cincinnati 74-68, and then immediately got to work on Georgetown. “But then you do it and it’s hard.’’
Huggins also said it was hard to face the Big Monday opponents his team faced this season. While Connecticut offers pretty much a standard style to prepare for, neither Villanova (four guards) nor Georgetown (Princeton motion) is easy to plan for and it’s even harder with just one day in between.
Give me five who can play
Huggins was incensed by his team’s effort in Saturday’s win over Cincinnati. Trailing by 13 points in the first half, he pulled all of his starters and inserted some rarely used reserves.
The bench-warmers rose to the occasion and got the Mountaineers back on track.
“I just can’t stand people playing harder than us,” Huggins said.
De’Sean Butler continues to slump shooting the ball. He’s only been over 50 percent from the floor in 3 of his last 17 games.
Butler scored 27 against the Hoyas last year.
Trend setting
The under is 7-1 in Georgetown’s last eight Monday games.
The under is 4-0 in Georgetown’s last four road games. Georgetown is 10-24 in its last 34 Big East games.
The Hoyas are 5-1 ATS following a loss against the spread. They are also 4-1 ATS following a straight up loss.
West Virginia is 1-4 ATS in its last five Monday games.
The under in this series is 3-1 in the last four games at WVU.