Game Recap: Georgetown falls to No.10 Kansas 75-70

After slow start in the first couple minutes of the first half against Kansas, Georgetown did a turnaround in the last 6 minutes or so in the half. At one point they were down 30-15, but made some plays on offense and defense to cut it to a two point game at halftime. Kansas led 34-32 and Perry Ellis led them in scoring at the half with nine points and four ebounds. For Georgetown, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera had nine points, but the Hoyas got good contribution from everyone who stepped on the court for them. LJ Peak was  huge for them because he had a lot of momentum plays. Georgetown went on a 15-2 run before halftime also.

For both teams in the game, defense was important because there were a lot of turnovers before half, though some of those were silly at times. Both teams did convert on a lot of  the turnovers. Joshua Smith, who has become an essential part of this team, was demanding the ball a lot more at towards the end of the first half and the guards kept feeding him the ball. Kansas had no answer for the big men. What really opened the game up and got Georgetown's offense going was passing the ball in the post and the middle penetration by Peak.

Kansas gained momentum when Brannen Greene came in the game and made three three pointers to force Georgetown to call a timeout. Georgetown's transition defense was bad at the point to allow that to happen. Georgetown's defense did get better after that, however. The one thing that hurt Georgetown in the second half, was that they were in the bonus early and every time someone from Kansas got fouled, they went to the line to shoot free throws.

There were a lot of momentum shifts in this game for both teams. Around the 7:10 mark, Georgetown's Paul White made a three, then Kansas made one also right after White did. It seemed like that both of these teams could not keep momentum. Frank Mason III really was a key factor in this game because he did come up big at moments.

At the 4:18 mark, Georgetown did sub in Joshua Smith and Jabril Trawick, who was on the bench for a long time. Georgetown did got Kansas into the bonus on the play that they did come in. The last four minutes were essential for Georgetown because they were down by four at the 3:46 mark. Joshua Smith came up up big to cut the lead to 2 at the 2:45 mark, but then allowed Brannen Greene to come down to hit a three. The problem was that Georgetown always allowed Kansas to take momentum away. Greene at this point was a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc. Aaron Bowen, who was not a factor in this game, came up huge on a steal at the 1:35 mark, which led to a Trawick lay up. Georgetown was down 68-67 at the point. It was crucial that they got a defensive stop because Bill Self was looking to get something in the post to Brannen Greene, who scored 17 points, but that play failed.

Georgetown played a good game, but being down early in the game really came back to haunt them.