LINKS: Hoyas Put Losing Streak to Test with DePaul at Home on Tuesday

Ewing, Georgetown can stop the streak at 29 if they can exorcise the Demons

Your Georgetown Hoyas (5-15, 0-9) have a chance to stop the 29-game conference losing streak and avoid a 10th consecutive BIG EAST loss this season when the DePaul Blue Demons (9-11, 3-6) come to Washington, D.C. for a 7 p.m. game on CBS Sports Network. Of the remaining 11 games, KenPom predicts no wins for #227 Georgetown but gives the Hoyas their best chances (above 40%) to win in this home matchup.

Even with a loss on Tuesday, there is some hope to get this GU losing streak off their backs. A late home game against St. John’s (Feb 22), as well as away games at Butler (Feb 19), St. John’s (Jan 29), and Seton Hall (Feb 14), seem potentially within general reach. However, two games of Creighton and Providence and home games against Marquette and UConn will be predicted as double-digit losses.

Still, beating DePaul at home in an up-and-down year for the Blue Demons seems like the best chance for Georgetown and Patrick Ewing to break this incredible losing streak.

Here are the links:

Georgetown Falls at No. 8/8 Xavier | GUHOYAS

“Last time we played [Xavier], we scored 89 points. Today, we scored 82 points. If you’re getting that type of offensive output, you should be able to win. Our defense is letting us down right now … We have to be able to get stops when we need to get stops.” – Head Coach Patrick Ewing on today’s game

“I thought he took the challenge, made some great shots, made some good plays – forced it a little at times but we needed to be able to score to at least be in the game.” – Ewing on Spears’ career performance

Xavier vs. Georgetown Takeaways | Banners on the Parkway

The ball movement came back … After a night in Chicago where X only managed 13 assists, they came back with 31 in this one. Freemantle, Boum and Kunk all notched 7 with four other Muskies all chipping in as well. While making the shots definitely helped the assist numbers compared to the DePaul game, the ball movement was much better all over, and the offense was back to dominating. Zach Freemantle was absolutely immense with 30 points and another double-double, and Colby Jones put up 20 on just 8 of 11 shooting. In a game where Nunge was not himself, the rest of the team papered over the crack he left in the offense.

Man, this defense … I’ll start by saying Primo Spears is a phenomenal player. That being said, X had no answer for him. Boum, Claude and Jones all matched up on him, and none of them could keep Spears from setting a career high of 37 points. Spears had his way with Xavier’s defense. Sean Miller made sure to mention this in his post game presser. He pointed out that X has had no answer for multiple guards this season, specifically in the last three games. He’s not wrong. Xavier being unable to even slow down specific opposition players has been a recurring theme this season. 20 games in and there seems to be no solution on the horizon.

Defense struggles, offense excels in No. 8 Xavier’s win over Georgetown | Cincinnati Enquirer (Adam Baum)

Despite the win and the offense’s recovery from its slumber earlier in the week in a loss at DePaul, Miller spent the entirety of his post-game press conference unhappy.

“I think you have to take some joy in winning a conference game. There are no easy nights here in the Big East. We just didn’t play well today,” said Miller. “(Georgetown point guard) Primo Spears was just fantastic ‒ 15-of-31 (shooting) ‒ man, I’ve coached a lot of games now. It’s hard to get 31 shots up…

“We scored 95 points and had 31 assists, nine turnovers. Obviously, that’s probably Georgetown’s Achilles’ heel. That’s great, but you just can’t play offense,” said Miller. “They scored right with us. It’s a very helpless feeling. We couldn’t stop Georgetown.”

DePaul visits Georgetown after Spears’ 37-point game | Washington Post

TOP PERFORMERS: Spears is averaging 16.6 points and 5.5 assists for the Hoyas. Brandon Murray is averaging 11 points over the last 10 games for Georgetown.

Javan Johnson is shooting 41.0% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Blue Demons, while averaging 15.3 points. Umoja Gibson is averaging 15.4 points, 5.1 assists and 2.2 steals over the last 10 games for DePaul.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hoyas: 0-10, averaging 68.9 points, 31.7 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 4.2 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 83.8 points per game.

Blue Demons: 3-7, averaging 65.6 points, 28.7 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 39.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.0 points.

DePaul Faces #22/20 Providence | DePaul

DePaul is coming off its best win of the season where the Blue Demons took down No. 8 Xavier in a thrilling 73-72 win at home Wednesday evening. Xavier was previously unbeaten in the BIG EAST and DePaul snapped an 11-game win streak for the Musketeers.

Umoja Gibson led DePaul with a game-high 22 points in addition to five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Javan Johnson and Da’Sean Nelson rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers for DePaul. Nelson is averaging 16.0 points and six rebounds per game across his last five, a stretch that began with 17 points against Providence on Jan. 1. DePaul also saw Caleb Murphy makes his Blue Demon debut, after being sideline with injury for the first 18 games of the season.

#22/20 Providence Outlasts Blue Demons | DePaul

DePaul (9-11, 3-6 BIG EAST) was led by Umoja Gibson’s team-high 16 points, which included four three-pointers. Gibson also tallied five assists and five rebounds as he stretched his double-digit scoring streak to nine-straight games. Da’Sean Nelson joined Gibson in double-digits with 13, continuing his hot streak.

Providence (15-5, 7-2 BIG EAST) was led by Noah Locke who had a game-high 29 points…

Providence jumped out to a quick 14-2 lead before DePaul stormed back, erasing the deficit with a 9-0 run. Umoja Gibson put DePaul within two points on two separate occasions with a pair of three-pointers but DePaul could not get the ultimate bucket to take the lead. Providence pulled back out to a seven-point, 37-30 advantage entering halftime.

The second half opened up in back-and-forth fashion that allowed DePaul to quickly pull back within four, 46-42. Providence continued to find an answer for every bit of momentum the Blue Demons put together as they pulled out to an 11-point margin.