BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CINCINNATI TRAVELS TO GEARGETOWN

February 7, 2009


Georgetown finally tasted victory again on Tuesday night with a 57-47 home victory over Rutgers. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Hoyas who saw their record plummet to 3-6 in the Big East before picking up the much-needed win.

One of those five losses came on the road at the hands of Cincinnati, 65-57, just 10 days ago. Now, the Hoyas will look to even things up by beating the Bearcats at the Verizon Center. UC is coming off an impressive 93-83 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday night, evening their Big East record at 5-5, one game better than the Hoyas.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the internet:

Back on Track: Georgetown’s Sapp Eager to Lead (Washington Post)

In their earlier meeting, Cincinnati got a game-high 20 points from junior Deonta Vaughn, out-rebounded the Hoyas 36-31 and held them to 40% shooting in a 65-57 victory. Georgetown’s leading scorer DaJuan Summers played just 13 minutes in the game and did not return to the floor after spraining an ankle late in the 1st half with the Hoyas leading. He is healthy now and scored 22 points in their game at Marquette just a few days later.

Georgetown’s biggest problems, aside from the loss to Marquette, have been on the offensive side of the ball in their recent slump. They have scored 60 or less four times in the last six games and in their three consecutive losses to WVU, Seton Hall and Cincy, they were a dismal 10 of 55 from three-point range. The UC and SHU were close games and they shot themselves out of it from beyond the arc, going 8-39 in the two losses.

Losing their point guard and leading scorer from last year’s team has stripped much of the consistency of the Hoya offense. John Thompson III runs an intricate system based on the Princeton offense and this year’s team has had trouble finding the efficient harmony that the offense promotes against Big East competition. They also miss last year’s size and toughness that Roy Hibbert, Patrick Ewing Jr and Vernon Macklin could provide as they are routinely out-rebounded and out-toughed in the paint.

Cincinnati is a pretty sizeable challenge with a frontline of Mike Williams (6’7, 235), Yancy Gates (6’9, 255), Steven Toyloy (6’8, 255) and Anthony McClain (6’11, 245) rotating up front. Vaughn provides much of the scoring, and is coming off a season-high 34-point performance in the win over Notre Dame. The offense goes through Vaughn, who doubles as the team’s point guard, and he will be the area of concentration for the Hoya defense.

This is unlikely to be a very pretty game. Both teams need the win for their NCAA Tournament hopes and expect the defensive effort and intensity to pick up considerably down the stretch in conference action. If Georgetown can find anyone to knock down some shots, and they have players like Jesse Sapp, Summers, Chris Wright and Austin Freeman who are capable of doing so, they should be able to win this game.

Cincinnati will defend and hit the boards, which will give them a chance to win, but in the end, look for the home team to escape with a win, keeping their season alive.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 67
Cincinnati 60