PROVIDENCE CRIERS: Cooley, Hoyas Flatten Friars, 93-72

Without Sorber, Georgetown still holds PC to 37% FG

Tonight, your Georgetown Hoyas got two things: a long-awaited win over Providence, and the experience of a home court advantage on a cold Wednesday in February. Coach Cooley and the Hoyas smacked down the Friars at Cap One by a score of 93-72.

Micah Peavy continued to make his NBA candidacy case, adding a career-high 30 points along with seven rebounds, seven assists, and six steals atop his typically stellar defensive performance. Jayden Epps added 18 points. Drew Fielder stepped up in a huge way, dropping 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds while generally ruling the paint on both ends of the floor. Jordan Burks dropped 13 points and brought general disruption to the Friars offensive plans.

The Hoyas were coming off a high-scoring but ultimately disappointing contest against Butler, with questions about Thomas Sorber’s turf toe injury lingering. Providence had a double-digit win over Villanova this past weekend to snap their four-game losing streak.

Cooley had not yet beaten Providence since taking the Georgetown position nearly two years ago. Last time these teams met, the Hoyas got precisely zero points from their bench (which was admittedly very short due injuries forcing regular subs into starting roles) in a double-digit defeat.

After the home team won the tip, Bensley Joseph opened the offense for the Friars, then continued to be their offense with 14 of the visitors’ first 16 points. Micah Peavy and Drew Fielder ensured that Georgetown largely kept pace, always keeping it no further than two possessions.

An 8-0 Georgetown run headed into the under-8, with the first baskets of the game from both Epps and Malik Mack, put the Hoyas back on top 23-20. Fielder took a beat too long to release a three, but Peavy tapped it back in to extend the advantage, then on the next trip drove through double coverage to float the ball in from high off the glass. Barron and Erhunmwunse answered for the Friars.

Peavy added a lot of the early scoring, with 17 points before the U4, but facilitating the sequence where he left it for Mack in transition, then Jordan Burks and Drew McKenna kept after the ball for a third-chance basket to put the Hoyas ahead 36-28 summarized the tenor of the early effort. While in the past “frontcourt by committee” has been used as a pejorative, in Sorber’s absence this evening we saw its best possible manifestation.

Burks, Curtis Williams Jr., and McKenna all swarmed to recover the ball after applying smothering defense to the Friars. The possession arrow favored Georgetown, and Mack was able to evade three defenders and convert. Williams Jr. got an and-1, and Burks muscled his way in for another. Peavy’s defense forced Providence into a turnover, and a quick transition possession led to Epps feeding Burks for a three just before the halftime buzzer. At the break, the Hoyas led 48-31.

Peavy picked up right where he left off after halftime, knocking down a turnaround jumper. A broken play off a miss for the Friars where Peavy corralled the ball in traffic set him up to find Burks in transition for an off-balance basket and the extra foul shot. Burks and Fielder collapsed the defense around them in the paint with the Friars showing zone, allowing Epps to get open near the corner and drain one from outside the arc.

Fielder corralled a defensive rebound, after which Burks passed up a contested look and made the extra pass to Peavy for a clean triple. The Hoyas bench erupted. Kim English called timeout with 16:11 remaining and Georgetown ahead 59-34. The only moments that gave pause were an early third foul from Fielder and Burks pulling up with an apparent cramp (that would hobble him slightly for the remainder of the game).

The Hoyas gave up three consecutive baskets without scoring one of their own for the first time in awhile, enduring a three minute scoring drought before English picked up a technical and Epps made both free-throws. Excellent straight up D from Fielder under the basket, despite the foul trouble, set up Epps to find McKenna for a layup off the spin move.

Joseph hit a triple for Providence, each team endured an empty trip, then Fielder knocked down a three of his own with the assist from Mack. The pace slowed down on both sides as the Friars had ball control issues while Georgetown was playing methodically and using as much clock as possible. With seven minutes remaining, coming off a Fielder and-1, the Hoyas were ahead 73-53.

Providence made up some ground in grinding fashion, eventually pulling within 14 on a pair of free throws from Erhunmwunse. An officials’ review reset the momentum, and Peavy hit a laser turnaround late in the shot clock to give the Hoyas’ offense a jumpstart. Fielder and Erhunmwunse both locked onto the ball after a freethrow miss and neither would let go. They got matching double technicals, fouling Erhunmwunse out of the game. Watching Fielder slap his chest, high five a coach, and yell to the crowd after that whistle was a g*ddamn delight.

Fielder got a rousing ovation from the crowd and the Georgetown bench when he too fouled out minute later. Peavy drove then split it off to Burks, who brought his total for the night to 13 points. Jayden Pierre hit two triples in 6 seconds to cut the margin back to fourteen, 81-67 with 3:43 on the clock. Peavy hit another three to bring his total on the night to 30. Watching McKenna drop to the floor and scramble for a rebound with his team up 18 and only 66 seconds to play warmed my heart. Honestly, the double T’s on Williams Jr. and Mela in the waning seconds did the same.

That was a solid and meaningful win for this team, their seventh BIG EAST victory of the season coming only days after the passing of Ed Cooley’s mother, Jane. The players wanted to get this one for him, and they did, playing their most complete & cohesive game of the year.