The Washington Post - 20.02.2020

thursday, february 20 , 2020. the washington post eZ M2 d5

Katherine Frey/the Washington Post

Terrell Allen, who finished with 16 points, tries to fend off Providence’s Kalif Young. Jahvon Blair paced Georgetown with 20 points.

BY AVA WALLACE

The Georgetown men’s basket-
ball team appreciates the feats it
improbably has pulled off since it
lost leading scorer Mac McClung
to a foot injury before a Feb. 2 win
at St. John’s. But these under-
manned Hoyas also know that the
wins they have managed recently
— one Feb. 8 against DePaul
despite losing starting center
Omer Yurtseven to an ankle inju-
ry and another at then-No. 19
Butler on Saturday — mean little
if they can’t string a few good
games together.
What the Hoyas need to move
in from the very outermost bub-
ble of the NCAA tournament
field, what they need to make all
the extended postgame ice baths
and hard falls in games played
largely without substitutes worth
it, is to go on a run.
“I told the team in the locker
room [Saturday] that if we don’t
beat Providence, the win against
Butler doesn’t mean anything,”
senior guard Jagan Mosely said
Tuesday.
A 73-63 loss to Providence at
Capital One Arena on Wednesday
leaves the Hoyas (15-11, 5-8 Big
East) in a particularly tricky

place, then, when it comes to

their postseason fate.

A pair of wins this week

(Georgetown faces last-place De-

Paul again Saturday) would have

gone a long way toward widening

the Hoyas’ slim window of hope

for making the NCAA tourna-

ment. After Saturday, a tough run

to the end of the regular season

awaits, with games at No. 19

Marquette and No. 15 Creighton

and home bouts against streaking

Xavier and No. 12 Villanova star-

ing down the anemic Hoyas.

Yurtseven missed his second

straight game Wednesday with an

ankle injury. McClung came back

for the first time since he injured

his foot in practice Feb. 1 and

played for just eight minutes off

the bench before asking the refer-

ee for a timeout and walking

straight off the court and to the

locker room.

“He practiced some yesterday,

so we knew that he was going to

be able to do something, but just

keep him limited,” Coach Patrick

Ewing said of McClung. “I’m not

sure what has happened.... He

just said he felt it pulling and it

started hurting so [he] stopped.”

As for Yurtseven, Ewing said

the 7-footer hasn’t practiced this

week.

“He hasn’t been doing any-

thing. Thought he was going to be

able to go today — he chose not

to,” Ewing said. “It is what it is. We

just have to do the best we can to

get them healthy and hopefully

get on the floor at some point.”

Yurtseven’s and McClung’s ab-

sences left guards Mosely, Jahvon

Blair and Te rrell Allen playing

either 40 minutes or just under

40 minutes for what seemed like

the umpteenth time this season

after Georgetown lost four play-

ers to transfers in December and

then McClung and Yurtseven to

injuries this month.

To their credit, the Hoyas dic-

tated the entire game, sprinting

out to a 9-0 lead then letting

Providence back in with poor

perimeter defense. In the second

half, the Friars (15-12, 8-6) didn’t

so much take the win as the

Hoyas handed it to them after

Georgetown led 34-30 at half-

time.

After a tight start to the second

half that had the Hoyas still

ahead 51-50 with 11 minutes to

play, Georgetown went cold.

The Hoyas looked truly worn

down for the first time in three

games, their lack of substitutes

perhaps finally catching up with

them, and they missed nine

straight shots as Providence went

on a 9-0 tear over four minutes to

lead 59-51 with just over seven

minutes to play.

Mosely fell hard twice in that

stretch, once taking an elbow to

the gut and the second time tak-

ing a fall that had him clutching

his shoulder on the court. He t ook

a long time to get up in both

instances but kept playing.

Mosely and the Hoyas kept on

running, but they couldn’t hit

their shots. Georgetown subsist-

ed on free throws throughout the

second half, going 13:22 without a

field goal, while Providence shot

60 percent from the field.

“It was tough. It was very

tough,” Ewing said. “To me, we

just ran out of steam, ran out of

energy, ran out of effort. All the

things we had been doing great,

those guys are logging some

heavy minutes, and tonight it just

took its toll.”

Blair led three scorers in dou-

ble figures with 20 points. Allen

added 16, and junior forward

Jamorko Pickett had 12 after an

unusually aggressive first half be-

fore he faded like the rest of his

team.

It wasn’t enough to overcome

their weak second half. Alpha

Diallo (18 points, eight rebounds)

and Luwane Pipkins (16 points)

led the Friars. Maliek White and

Kalif Young had 11 points each off

the bench.

“I tell them they’ve got to re-

group,” Ewing said. “We have five

more games left. There’s still a lot

of games to play. We’ll be off

[Thursday], probably watch film

and then get at it again... go to

DePaul and hopefully get a win.”

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Undermanned Hoyas fall short again

ProVidence 73,

georgetown 63

BY GENE WANG

CHARLOTTESVILLE — In a season
filled with wayward shooting and
frequent scoring ruts, the Virginia
men’s basketball team delivered
long stretches of crisp offense
along with its usual stinginess on
defense Wednesday night to coast
to a 78-65 victory over Boston
College at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers (18-7, 10-5) set a
season high in points to earn their
third straight win and sixth in
seven games, keeping them in
fourth place in the ACC with five
games to play.
The top four finishers earn
double-byes in the conference
tournament next month.
“Every game is big at this
point,” Virginia guard-forward
Braxton Key said. “We feel like we
can win out the rest of the regular
season, and that’s one of our goals
right now.”
Key and Kihei Clark scored
17 points apiece to lead five play-
ers in double figures, allowing
Virginia to earn a series split with
the Eagles (13-14, 7-9).

Jay Huff and To mas Woldent-

ensae each added 14 points, with

Huff shooting 3 for 5 from three-

point range and Woldentensae

4 for 8 from beyond the arc.

Virginia shot 10 for 17 from

deep overall, making its second-

most threes in a game this season.

The Cavaliers shot a season-high

57.8 percent from the field.

“When you make some threes,

it makes a big difference,” Cava-

liers Coach To ny Bennett said.

Virginia is shooting 42 percent

(47 for 112) on three-pointers over

its past six games, by far its most

productive run this season after it

had been among the worst three-

point-shooting teams in the coun-

try.

A three from Kody Stattmann

with 5:22 left in the second half

produced the Cavaliers’ largest

lead of the night at 7 0-50, capping

a 9-0 burst that all but settled the

outcome.

Boston College got no closer

than 12 points thereafter despite

shooting 56 percent in the second

half.

“I’ve just been putting up extra

shots and doing extra stuff out-

side of practice,” said Stattmann,

who finished with six points off

the bench. “Like when I’m in, I

just want to do my role, shoot the

ball and play ‘D,’ so I’ve just been

getting reps up, and I think it’s

finally starting to come out a bit

more.”

A 12-point halftime lead dwin-

dled to 45-39 less than six minutes

into the second half, but the Cava-

liers countered on the strength of

Clark’s decision-making and

Key’s scoring.

Key tallied six consecutive

points, aggressively going to the

rim with Boston College forward

Nik Popovic on the bench because

of foul trouble. The senior trans-

fer made both ends of a one-and-

one and scored on a layup and a

dunk, each courtesy of an assist

from Clark, including a one-hand-

ed, no-look pass.

“This game was great,” Bennett

said. “Our offense kind of carried

us, but we talked about not get-

ting too comfortable.”

The final margin was a depar-

ture from Virginia’s penchant for

going down to the wire over the

past few weeks, during which

time it won four games by two

possessions or fewer, including its

previous two wins by a combined

three points.

The Cavaliers were coming off a

64 -62 win Saturday against strug-

gling North Carolina, which finds

itself in the unfamiliar position of

last place in the ACC, thanks to

Woldentensae’s three-pointer

with eight-tenths of a second left.

Four days earlier, Virginia out-

lasted Notre Dame in overtime,

50-49, behind 20 points from Ma-

madi Diakite.

Points were also at a premium

the first time Virginia faced Bos-

ton College early last month in

Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Cava-

liers lost that game, 60 -53, even

though the Eagles were consider-

ably shorthanded, missing Pop-

ovic, a senior starter, with a back

injury and Derryck Thornton, a

graduate transfer point guard, be-

cause of an ankle injury.

Popovic was in the lineup this

time and finished with a team-

high 22 points despite his foul

trouble. Thornton, the Eagles’

leading scorer at 13.1 points per

game, had been on track to play,

too, but wound up being a last-

minute scratch because of back

spasms.

“They shot the ball extremely

well,” Boston College Coach Jim

Christian said of the Cavaliers.

“When they’re in a good rhythm,

it’s hard. I think they did a great

job. I’m not sure what To ny said,

but they’re just playing with so

much more confidence.”

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With balanced e≠ort, Cavaliers roll past the Eagles

Virginia 78,

Boston college 65

Jade Edwards had 22 points and

11 rebounds — both game highs —

as the Eagles overcame 17 turn-

overs and 20 percent shooting

from beyond the arc (4 for 20) to

hold off the Midshipmen in An-

napolis and snap a two-game los-

ing streak.

Indeya Sanders was the only

other player to score in double

figures for American (10-14, 6-8

Patriot League) w ith 1 0 points.

Mary Kate Ulasewicz led Navy

(7-18, 2-12), which s hot j ust 26 p er-

cent from the field ( 16 f or 61), with

15 points.

l DAYTON 50, GEORGE

WASHINGTON 44: The Colo-

nials rallied from a 17-3 deficit

after one quarter to carry a five-

point lead into the fourth period,

but G eorge Washington ran out of

gas against the conference-lead-

ing Flyers a nd fell i n Dayton, O hio.

Alexandra Maund scored a

team-high 12 points for the Colo-

nials (11-15, 5-8 Atlantic 10), who

were outrebounded 42-23 and

went to the free throw line just

four times.

Erin Whalen led Dayton (20-7,

13-0) with 1 5 points.

l RICHMOND 75 , GEORGE

MASON 7 0: Claire Holt scored a

game-high 24 points and hit 10 of

10 from the free throw line to lead

the Spiders (13-14, 6-7 Atlantic 10)

past the Patriots at EagleBank

Arena.

Nicole Cardano-Hillary led

George Mason (8-18, 2-11) with

23 points.

FROM NEWS SERVICES

AND STAFF REPORTS

Kaila Charles scored 16 points

while Shakira Austin and Dia-

mond Miller e ach a dded 1 2 to help

No. 7 Maryland rout Wisconsin,

85-56, on Wednesday night in

Madison, Wis.

Maryland (22-5, 14-2 Big Te n)

holds a half-game lead in the con-

ference s tandings ahead of North-

western with two games to go in

the r egular s eason.

Junior Niya Beverly and fresh-

man reserve Julie Pospisilova

scored 10 points apiece for the

Badgers ( 11-16, 3-13).

The Te rps have strung together

12 consecutive wins and haven’t

lost since a 66 -61 setback at Iowa

on Jan. 9. They won the two-game

regular s eason series o ver Wiscon-

sin and have never lost to the

Badgers ( 8-0).

Stephanie Jones added

11 points and nine rebounds for

Maryland.

Maryland scored 33 points off

Wisconsin turnovers. The Badgers

had 23 of their 25 turnovers in the

first half.

The Te rrapins held the Badgers

to 17 first-half points, their lowest

total in a half this season. Wiscon-

sin h as lost six straight.

l AMERICAN 48, NAVY 40:

area women’s college basketball roundup

Terrapins rout Badgers,

remain atop the Big Ten

maryland 85,

wisconsin 56

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Markell Johnson scored a ca-

reer-high 28 points and made his

third half-court shot of the season

to help North Carolina State beat

sixth-ranked Duke, 88 -66, on

Wednesday night i n Raleigh, N.C.

Devon Daniels added a career-

high 25 points for the Wolfpack

(17-9, 8-7 ACC), which led by 15 at

halftime and by 27 late in a sur-

prisingly lopsided win against the

ACC-leading Blue Devils (22-4,

12-3).

Duke has l ost six of eight in PNC

Arena dating from 2010, with five

of those coming against the Wolf-

pack.

l LOUISVILLE 9 0, SYRA-

CUSE 66: Jordan Nwora scored

17 points, Dwayne Sutton added

16, and the 11th-ranked Cardinals

trounced the Orange in Louisville.

The Cardinals (22-5, 13-3 ACC)

never trailed the Orange (14-12,

7-8) after losses at Georgia Tech

and Clemson dropped them six

spots in the rankings and out of

the c onference lead.

l VILLANOVA 91, DEPAUL

71 : In Villanova, Pa., Saddiq Bey

and Collin Gillespie each made

five of the Wildcats’ 18 three-

pointers, and 12th-ranked Vil-

lanova ( 20-6, 9-4 Big East) u sed i ts

long-range shooting to beat the

Blue Demons (13-13, 1-12) for the

20 th consecutive time.

l GEORGIA 6 5, AUBURN 5 5:

Anthony Edwards scored

18 points, including a late three-

pointer to slow the 13th-ranked

Tigers’ c omeback attempt, a nd the

Bulldogs (13-3, 3-10 SEC) held off

Auburn (22-4, 9-4) in A thens, G a.

l SETON HALL 74 , BUTLER

72: Sandro Mamukelashvili hit a n

off-balance shot in the lane at the

buzzer to give the 16th-ranked Pi-

rates (19-7, 11-3 Big East) a stun-

ning victory over the 21st-ranked

Bulldogs (19-7, 7-7) i n Newark.

The game-winning shot came

on an inbounds play after the offi-

cials reviewed a missed shot by

Quincy McKnight and added two

tenths of a second, putting 0.6 on

the c lock.

l HOUSTON 76, TULSA 43:

Caleb Mills scored 22 of his

27 points in t he second h alf t o lead

the 22nd-ranked Cougars (21-6,

11-3 American) to a rout of the

Golden Hurricane (17-9, 9-4) in

Houston.

Huskies clinch share of AAC

Anna Makurat and Megan

Walker each scored 18 points as

No. 6 Connecticut (22-3, 12-0) se-

cured a share of its seventh

straight American Athletic Con-

ference regular season title with a

74-31 rout of Tulane in Hartford,

Conn.

Krystal Freeman and Irina Pa-

rau each scored seven points to

lead the Green Wave (12-14, 7-6).

national college basketball roundup

N o. 6 Blue Devils endure

beatdown by Wolfpack

n.c. state 88,

duke 66

FROM NEWS SERVICES

Kameron McGusty scored five

of his 21 points in the third over-

time to lead Miami to a 102-95

triple-overtime victory over Vir-

ginia Tech on Wednesday night in

Blacksburg, Va., in the longest

ACC game in 17 y ears.

Isaiah Wong added a career-

high 27 points and Chris Lykes

finished with 23 for the Hurri-

canes (14-12, 6-10 ACC), who won

their third straight game and

swept the Hokies this season.

The game was the l ongest i n the

ACC since Dec. 20, 2003 , when a

Chris Paul-led Wake Forest team

won, 119-114, in triple overtime

over North Carolina in Chapel

Hill.

Ty rece Radford paced the Hok-

ies (15-11 6-9) with a career-high

26 points.

l AMERICAN 71 , NAVY 62 :

Sa’eed N elson had 2 6 points as the

Eagles defeated the Midshipmen

at B ender Arena.

Stacy Beckton Jr. had 15 points

for American (14-12, 10-5 Patriot

League), which earned its fourth

straight h ome victory.

Greg Summers had 18 points

and eight rebounds for the Mid-

shipmen (13-13, 7-8).

l GEORGE WASHINGTON

70, DUQUESNE 67 : Maceo Jack

tossed in 20 points and Arnaldo

To ro added a double-double off

the bench as the Colonials sur-

prised the D ukes in Pittsburgh.

Jack made 7 of 12 shots, includ-

ing 4 of 9 from three-point range,

and grabbed five rebounds for the

Colonials (12-14, 6-7 Atlantic 10).

To ro finished with 16 points and

14 r ebounds for h is f ourth double-

double of t he season.

Marcus Weathers had 19 points

for D uquesne (18-7, 8-5).

l RICHMOND 65, GEORGE

MASON 50 : Jordan Miller fin-

ished with 11 points, nine re-

bounds and two assists, but the

Patriots fell s hort in Richmond.

The Patriots (14-12, 3-10 Atlan-

tic 1 0) held the Spiders (20-6, 10-3)

10 points under their season scor-

ing average.

area men’s college basketball roundup

ACC marathon results

in a Hokies loss at home

miami 102,

Va. tecH 95 (3ot)