Georgetown-Seton Hall: 3 Things We Learned

1) The Pirates made up one deficit, but could not make up a second one

Seton Hall was able to make up a 20-point deficit and tied the game at 44 in the second half, but just when it looked like the Pirates were going to take the lead they let the game get away from them. This team just does not have the endurance to make both of those big deficits, but more importantly, The Hall should not have put themselves in that situation in the first place.

The Pirates were able to get important Hoyas in foul trouble but, one of the biggest problems was that The Hall were not able to cash in at the free throw line. Seton Hall shot 19-31 from the line and if they had hit more could have hung around down the stretch.

2) Stagnant offense and matador defense

It is time to get to the crux of the problem not only in this game, but for this entire stretch that has seen the Pirates lose seven of their last 10 games. When The Hall get out in transition they are fantastic and almost always score, but in the half-court offense the Pirates become stagnant. They will either take a shot too quickly, drive inside and take an impossible shot or turn the ball over.

In the first half and down the stretch, that is what the Pirates did. During those two stretches we saw the other problem with this team and that is defense. At times, they look like upperclassmen when they defend, but at other during other times The Hall look like they are not even trying. Seton Hall could possibly be running out of gas due to all of the minutes they have played and the fact that they are trying to bring Isaiah Whitehead back into the fold.

Players like Whitehead, Sterling Gibbs and Khadeen Carrington are also trying to do too much at times. They will force the issue when they do not have to and it leads to turnovers. Part of this is Whitehead trying to get acclimated, but it is hurting the team. With Whitehead back it has been subtraction by addition so far because of his turnovers. The freshman had six turnovers in this game.

3) Hoyas’ freshman show poise with team in foul trouble

Georgetown was coming off of a tough loss to Villanova and looked to use their size to win against Seton Hall, but Joshua Smith and Mikael Hopkins got into foul trouble. That is where, not only, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, but Isaac Copeland really stepped up and played well for the Hoyas. Smith-Rivera had 23 points to lead all scorers to go along with four rebounds. Copeland, the freshman, had 20 points and just looked so confident with the ball in his hands on the road.

The Hoyas fell asleep during the Seton Hall run that tied the game, but did not lose their composure and showed that they can win the Big East when firing on all cylinders.