Preview
"I don't know what it is, but it's not there. We just don't have it."
Cautionary words from another era welcome the Georgetown Hoyas to Northern New Jersey, where a team seemingly playing out the season meets a hungry Seton Hall team fighting for an NCAA berth in its final home game of the season. The Pirates are 6-2 in Big East home games and look to close its home schedule with a convincing win.
Oh, and that quote?
It was Gerald Riley on Feb. 28, 2004, following a 75-48 loss at Seton Hall where the Hoyas shot 3 for 22 in the first half and never contended. Riley finished a horrid 0 for 11; yet, even had he finished 11 for 11, the Hoyas still would have lost. That season, they just didn't have any run at the end of the year.
Georgetown has dropped five of its last seven on the road and four of its last six at Prudential Center.
The Pirates have won four of six since its overtime win at Georgetown and are one of three Big East teams (along with Marquette and Seton Hall) fighting for two at-large bids. Three scorers figure to be at the top of the list Tuesday, with guard Khadeen Carrington (15.9 ppg) expected to have a big night. Guards have feasted on the Hoyas' lax defense all month and Carrington is next in line--he scored 16 in the prior meeting but is averaging 28 points a game over his last three home games. Carrington had 18 in the Pirates too close for comfort win over DePaul on Saturday.
Option two for Seton Hall will be 6-6 Desi Rodriguez, who is averaging just over 20 points a game in his last two games despite a woeful 2 for 12 from three point range. Rodriguez was a season low 4 for 19 in the game at Verizon Center and that won't happen Tuesday night. With forward Ismael Sanogo being a game time decision, the Pirates will need Rodriguez to step up in the frontcourt, where his 12 rebounds versus the Hoyas was a season high.
Games like this are tailor made for a outgoing player to have a big game. While Angel Delgado is a junior, it's not inconceivable that he may be in the NBA pool after this season. The most prolific Big East rebounder since Pittsburgh's Dajuan Blair, Delgado (15.7 ppg, 13.0 rpg) has scored double figures in points and rebounds in each of the last ten games, with a season high 22 boards against Butler and a 25 point, 13 rebound effort in the Pirates' last home game versus Xavier. Delgado's free throw numbers need work, but he's an all-Big East candidate in the paint, not on the line.
So to Gerald Riley's quote--is there anything "there" for the Hoyas in this one? Rodney Pryor gets his points but the defense is no longer there. L.J. Peak may simply be wearing down after almost 1000 minutes on the floor this season, and while Jessie Govan continues to improve, the point guard and power forward positions are increasingly inert, with the Mosely/Mulmore tandem failing to make headway. Marcus Derrickson has averaged just four points over his last three road games and hasn't scored more than two field goals in his last six games. Effort will come from Akoy Agau and Kaleb Johnson but they are not in the same league, so to speak, with the likes of Carrington and Delgado.
John Thompson III doesn't have a lot of cards left to play at this point of the season, lest he shock everyone and release Trey Mourning from a season's long dog house. Absent that, the same old lineup figures to provide the same old results.
Other keys to the game:
Three Pointers: Georgetown's 1-19 effort on Feb. 4 deep-sixed Georgetown's season. Can they do better on the road?
Inside Defense: If the Hoyas are to foul, keeping Delgado off the boards would be a productive strategy.
Under 70: Since the third game of the Big East season, The Pirates are undefeated (6-0) when scoring 71 or more points.
"Coaches can exhort, fans can cheer them on, but in the end, the players have to produce," this site wrote after that 2004 game. "Whatever strength and pride the Hoyas have left in them must be expended this week, or the season ends with it."
"I don't know what it is, but it's not there. We just don't have it."
Cautionary words from another era welcome the Georgetown Hoyas to Northern New Jersey, where a team seemingly playing out the season meets a hungry Seton Hall team fighting for an NCAA berth in its final home game of the season. The Pirates are 6-2 in Big East home games and look to close its home schedule with a convincing win.
Oh, and that quote?
It was Gerald Riley on Feb. 28, 2004, following a 75-48 loss at Seton Hall where the Hoyas shot 3 for 22 in the first half and never contended. Riley finished a horrid 0 for 11; yet, even had he finished 11 for 11, the Hoyas still would have lost. That season, they just didn't have any run at the end of the year.
Georgetown has dropped five of its last seven on the road and four of its last six at Prudential Center.
The Pirates have won four of six since its overtime win at Georgetown and are one of three Big East teams (along with Marquette and Seton Hall) fighting for two at-large bids. Three scorers figure to be at the top of the list Tuesday, with guard Khadeen Carrington (15.9 ppg) expected to have a big night. Guards have feasted on the Hoyas' lax defense all month and Carrington is next in line--he scored 16 in the prior meeting but is averaging 28 points a game over his last three home games. Carrington had 18 in the Pirates too close for comfort win over DePaul on Saturday.
Option two for Seton Hall will be 6-6 Desi Rodriguez, who is averaging just over 20 points a game in his last two games despite a woeful 2 for 12 from three point range. Rodriguez was a season low 4 for 19 in the game at Verizon Center and that won't happen Tuesday night. With forward Ismael Sanogo being a game time decision, the Pirates will need Rodriguez to step up in the frontcourt, where his 12 rebounds versus the Hoyas was a season high.
Games like this are tailor made for a outgoing player to have a big game. While Angel Delgado is a junior, it's not inconceivable that he may be in the NBA pool after this season. The most prolific Big East rebounder since Pittsburgh's Dajuan Blair, Delgado (15.7 ppg, 13.0 rpg) has scored double figures in points and rebounds in each of the last ten games, with a season high 22 boards against Butler and a 25 point, 13 rebound effort in the Pirates' last home game versus Xavier. Delgado's free throw numbers need work, but he's an all-Big East candidate in the paint, not on the line.
So to Gerald Riley's quote--is there anything "there" for the Hoyas in this one? Rodney Pryor gets his points but the defense is no longer there. L.J. Peak may simply be wearing down after almost 1000 minutes on the floor this season, and while Jessie Govan continues to improve, the point guard and power forward positions are increasingly inert, with the Mosely/Mulmore tandem failing to make headway. Marcus Derrickson has averaged just four points over his last three road games and hasn't scored more than two field goals in his last six games. Effort will come from Akoy Agau and Kaleb Johnson but they are not in the same league, so to speak, with the likes of Carrington and Delgado.
John Thompson III doesn't have a lot of cards left to play at this point of the season, lest he shock everyone and release Trey Mourning from a season's long dog house. Absent that, the same old lineup figures to provide the same old results.
Other keys to the game:
Three Pointers: Georgetown's 1-19 effort on Feb. 4 deep-sixed Georgetown's season. Can they do better on the road?
Inside Defense: If the Hoyas are to foul, keeping Delgado off the boards would be a productive strategy.
Under 70: Since the third game of the Big East season, The Pirates are undefeated (6-0) when scoring 71 or more points.
"Coaches can exhort, fans can cheer them on, but in the end, the players have to produce," this site wrote after that 2004 game. "Whatever strength and pride the Hoyas have left in them must be expended this week, or the season ends with it."
