LINKS: Georgetown Hoyas Had a Shot to Beat Johnnies at MSG

Your Georgetown Hoyas had a great chance to win their second BIG EAST game in a row, but dropped one late Sunday afternoon to the St. John’s Red Storm dropped at Madison Square Garden. The Hoyas led with confidence for about 17 minutes of the second half until eventually succumbing to late-game issues of turnovers and second-chance points. Fan feelings were generally mixed because of the 1-28 record spanning 1.5 conference seasons, but there’s no denying that hopes were higher because of the DePaul win. Speaking after the game, Ewing said, “If I had listened to everybody, I probably would have jumped off a bridge right now.”

While the game came down to the final two plays, Georgetown lost this one by coughing up the lead by not handling SJU’s defense in the final three minutes. The decision to go zone was a good move, but the Johnnies extended the play long enough to find an open three look. Likewise, the last inbound play worked pretty damn well, but just didn’t pan out for Mozone.

If fans remember the first half of the game, sometimes it’s just luck. As Georgetown closed the first period with a 14-0 run on Murray’s buzzer-beater, St. John’s on a 20-9 run that was sealed by Storr’s three.

But the underlying reasons for success in each period were not luck. In the first half, the Hoyas had 9 steals, 8 fast break points and 15 points off turnovers. In the second, SJU had 12 second-chance points, 13 points off turnovers and 22 points in the paint. The Johnnies relied on their defense to get their offense going.

At the under-8 media period, Georgetown led 64-57 and had only four second-half turnovers. During the rest of the game, St. John’s turned over 5 more times, scored 8 points in the paint, attempted 10 free throws and finished on top 75-73.

Sure, the Hoyas can improve late-game situations and free throws, but concepts like playing more zone, using sets to create more perimeter looks, and controlling the pace to reduce turnovers will be better improvements in this final month of conference play.

Here are the links:

St. John’s used to rally to combat Georgetown | FIELDLEVELMEDIA

The game-winning 3-pointer by Storr capped a game that ended 20-9 for St. John’s (14-8, 4-7 Big East), which snapped a two-game losing streak. David Jones scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the run, including a pair of free throws that gave the Red Storm a 72-70 lead with 46.2 seconds left. Dylan Addae-Wusu finished with 15 points while Storr had 12. Joel Soriano (12 points, 15 rebounds) had his 18th double-double of the season.

Primo Spears scored 25 points for Georgetown (6-16, 1-10 Big East), which was trying to win back-to-back regular-season conference games for the first time in nearly two years (Feb. 27-March 2, 2021). Brandon Murray had 17 points while Qudus Wahab added 14 points. St. John’s had a pair of 10-point leads in the first half before the Hoyas rallied. Georgetown closed the half on a 14-0 run to take a 39-35 lead. Georgetown opened the second of its two nine-point leads on a layup by Murray that made it 64-55 with 8:22 left.

AJ Storr’s late 3-pointer lifts St. John’s over Georgetown, 75-73, at Madison Square Garden – St. John’s University Athletics | RED STORM SPORTS

Trailing by as many as nine points with 8:22 remaining, St. John’s got a big boost from junior wing David Jones who scored eight straight points in the final four minutes of action before Storr buried the dagger. Jones finished with a team-high 17 points, including 12 in the final stanza, with seven boards and two assists in 27 minutes off the bench.

Storr finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor. The Rockford, Ill., native also set career highs with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Joel Soriano had his 18th double-double of the season for St. John’s (14-8, 4-7 BIG EAST) and finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The senior center from Yonkers scored half of his points at the free throw line and grabbed 11 offensive boards. Dylan Addae-Wusu was the fourth Johnnie to score in double figures as the junior from the Bronx scored 15 points and shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Addae-Wusu also dished out four assists.

Announced attendance today at MSG was 11,455.

Nice bunch to watch St John’s and Georgetown #sjubb

— Kevin Connelly (@KevinConnelly24) January 29, 2023

St. John’s escapes with a close win over Georgetown, 75-73 | RUMBLEINTHETUIN

The Red Storm’s comeback was slow due to their softness at the rim throughout the contest. To their credit, they got to the rim 39 times. However, they had to make more than 19 of those shots. The referee let them play in the paint, so more fouls could definitely have been called. The Johnnies instead relied on trying to spin and turn the ball over to finish strongly instead. With less than 4 minutes left in the game, the struggling David Jones put the team on his back by scoring 8 straight points to bring the Johnnies within 2. With 4 seconds left in the game, Andre Curbelo kicked the ball out to AJ Storr who knocked down a three to give St. giving John’s its first lead since George’s 14-0 run to end the first half. Nala Burton Images 2022 Georgetown took 3 seconds to get the ball across half court when Curbelo hit the ball out of bounds. Bryson Mozone attempted a shot from deep for the Hoyas that missed, and the Red Storm came back to win, 75-73.

AJ Storr’s last-second trey helps St. John’s Avoids Georgetown Disaster | NYPOST

Storr saw limited playing time for most of the season, but he didn’t get over it. He has continued to work and has now started six straight games, scoring in double figures four times. “I knew that eventually things were going to go well,” Storr said. “I just stayed positive and stayed in the gym.” However, the feel-good win won’t do much to change the nature of this season unless a long winning streak follows. St. John’s almost lost at home to the worst team in the league.

It still has a 2-7 record in Quad 1 and 2 games, and is in eighth place in the Big East, needing a strong finish just to reach the NIT. But on Sunday afternoon St. At least John had reason to smile in what was otherwise another disappointing season. Adding to the positive vibes was Storr, who the program hopes is a building block for the future, the game-winning shot.

Georgetown Falls at St. John’s 75-73 – Georgetown University Athletics | GUHOYAS

Despite leading for a majority of the second half, the Georgetown University men’s basketball team was unable to mount a surge in St. John’s squad doesn’t fight back after the Red Storm pulls off the game-winning triple with just four ticks on the clock. Bryson Mozone was able to get a shot off at the buzzer, but his attempt didn’t go in as the Johnnies held on for the 75-73 win.

ON THE RECORD “We went to a zone to mix it up – something we didn’t run today, so we thought it would throw [St. John’s] off. We just didn’t get a stop. Then at the end of the game we got a good shot. We executed the play perfectly, Bryson Mozone was wide open, it just didn’t go in.” – Head Coach Patrick Ewing on the last play

“This is a game we had opportunities to win … Turnovers, we had six turnovers at halftime, ended up with 15, nine in the second half. We talked in our scouting report, we have to limit their offensive rebounds – they got 20. These are things we must be able to take care of. The turnover game, the offensive rebound games, then when you’re up with three minutes to go, we have to take good shots, we have to not turn the ball over and even if we don’t score, they can’t don’t score points… You have to be able to defend without compromising and then take care of the ball.” Ewing on the overall game