DePaul bulldozes Georgetown

The Georgetown Hoyas needed a win to keep their NCAA Tournament chances afloat. Well... things went in a suboptimal direction for Patrick Ewing’s Hoyas Wednesday night in Chicago. The DePaul Blue Demons took it to the Hoyas, bulldozing them by nearly 40 points. By the game’s conclusion, DePaul celebrated a 101-69 victory at WinTrust Arena on Senior Night.

Things became too hot for Georgetown to handle practically from the jump. The game was 7-5 in DePaul’s favor after Jagan Mosely hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit from five to three. However, it was off to the races for the Blue Demons after that. They went on a 12-0 run that was finally stopped at the 14:51 mark. Although James Akinjo, Trey Mourning and Jamorko Pickett scored over the next few minutes, DePaul was primed and ready to go on yet another run. They ramped things up, going on a 17-0 run to make it 42-15 by the 6:44 mark.

The deficits for Georgetown only seemed to widen at that point. The Hoyas never quite got into a rhythm and never got close enough to really make it a game. Given the stakes at hand, this is a tough pill to swallow for Georgetown and one that could be very costly come Selection Sunday, unless they go on a serious run in the Big East Tournament.

Spurring the winning effort was once again Max Strus. In his final home game, Strus scored 30 points on 20 shots, and went 8-for-15 from 3-point land. It’s the second consecutive game that he’s scored at least 30, as it follows up his ridiculous 43-point burst against St. John’s over the weekend. He’s played extremely well this season and may have helped to seal up an All-Big East selection with this performance against the Hoyas.

His efforts were complemented by three other double figure scorers. In his final home game, Eli Cain scored 24 points and went 4-for-8 from distance. His 24 points marked just the fourth time this season that he’s hit the 20-point threshold. But, it was Cain’s 17th career 20-point game, with a few more opportunities to come to possibly see that number increase.

Paul Reed and Femi Olujobi got into double figures as well, scoring 19 and 13 respectively. Reed led the team with 10 rebounds in the contest, Strus following close behind with nine while Olujobi had six. Devin Gage had two points, but led the charge with 10 assists on the night.

Mac McClung and James Akinjo led Georgetown in the points department on Wednesday. In the defeat, McClung and Akinjo each scored 13 points. Help was hard to come by though, as no other Hoya got into double figures. Jamorko Pickett came quite close with nine points and Josh LeBlanc and Jahvon Blair each had eight. But, it was close but no cigar for them.

DePaul and Georgetown are now ready to end their regular seasons this weekend. DePaul will face the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha, while Georgetown will handle the Marquette Golden Eagles in Milwaukee.