Georgetown earns season sweep of Providence with 76-67 win

After being swept in each of the last four seasons, the Georgetown Hoyas firmly placed the shoe on the other foot Wednesday evening. The Hoyas defeated the Providence Friars twice in one season for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, as they dispatched the Friars 76-67 at The Dunk.

Although a 3-pointer by Alpha Diallo made it a four point game with 12:56 to play, that would be as close as Providence would get the rest of the way. Georgetown would stretch the lead to as 14 with 1:46 remaining. Coincidentally, the 1:46 minute mark in the first half was the last time that the Friars would hold any kind of lead in the game. Two free throws from Josh LeBlanc knotted the game at 27, and it was off to the races from there for Patrick Ewing’s team.

The win was anchored by the efforts of the aforementioned LeBlanc. The freshman scored a team-high 17 points on just eight shots from the floor, went 6-for-6 from the FT line and had 11 rebounds for a quality double-double. It’s not too arguable that he was the best player on the floor tonight, having showed out in a tremendous way.

Fellow freshmen Mac McClung and James Akinjo showed out as well. McClung went for 13 points, six rebounds and five assists with two steals to boot. Akinjo scored 10, and while he went 1-for-11 from the field, he shot 8-for-10 from the line and also piled up eight assists and four rebounds.

Jessie Govan bounced back from his woeful performance against the Villanova Wildcats, too. Govan scored 13 points, matching McClung, and had seven rebounds, a block, two steals and an assist. Sophomore forward Jamorko Pickett got into double figures, too, with 12 points and went 4-for-4 from the 3-piont arc.

The Friars were led by the efforts of Alpha Diallo, who scored a game high 22 points. Unfortunately, Diallo’s inefficiencies were on display, as he shot just 8-for-18 from the field. No other Friar got into double figures, as Makai Ashton-Langford scored nine while David Duke put up eight. Isaiah Jackson had seven points and went 2-for-5 from the field, while Nate Watson had six points and went 3-for-5.

Providence’s woeful effort from 3-point land certainly played a part. The Hoyas held them to 4-for-22 from deep, and conversely shot 7-for-18 from the perimeter. Naturally, the difference in the game was nine points, and there was a three-shot difference in 3-pointers. Not to say that it made the WHOLE difference, but they certainly could’ve seen a swing if they had knocked down a couple more treys.

Georgetown improves to 15-8 and 5-5 in the Big East with the victory. They now turn their focus to a Saturday home tilt against the Butler Bulldogs. Meanwhile, Providence drops down to 13-10 and 3-7 in Big East play. They are caught up in a three game losing streak and have lost four of their last six games. Their luck won’t get much easier as they go to Madison Square Garden this weekend to face the St. John’s Red Storm.