Zone proves Hoyas’ undoing

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No leading scorer, no problem. Just dial 1-3-1.

With their top shooter suspended indefinitely, the West Virginia Mountaineers turned to their 1-3-1 matchup zone — a halfcourt defense that created serious havoc with Georgetown’s offense yesterday. The Hoyas shot a season-low 31 percent, turned the ball over a season-high 20 times, finished with 14 assists, went to the free throw line a season-low 12 times, took a season-high 71 shots, and scored a season-low 58 points.

But with a little more equity from the officials, Georgetown might have surmounted all these factors. West Virginia made 16 of 24 free throws in the final 5:25 to seal a 62-58 victory over the Hoyas before 6,071 at WVU Coliseum.

The Mountaineers, who were playing without suspended leading scorer Drew Schifino (17.6 points), went to the free throw line 40 times. The Hoyas were whistled for 32 fouls while the Mountaineers (8-4, 1-1) were called for 15.

This was the second consecutive conference loss for the Hoyas (10-2, 1-2 Big East), and things don’t get any easier. Georgetown visits No.1 Connecticut on Wednesday and plays host to No.2 Duke on Jan.24, with a home game against struggling St. John’s in between.

“In this league, there are no more off days from now on,” Georgetown coach Craig Esherick said. “[West Virginias] defense confused us, caused us some problems. I thought for three-quarters of the game, we had a hard time handling [the] 1-3-1 zone.”

West Virginia, which snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Hoyas, was equally as bad as the Hoyas on offense. The Mountaineers shot 35.6 percent (16 of 45), their second-worst shooting game of the season; turned the ball over a season-high 21 times; made two of 16 3-pointers (12.5 percent); and handed out a season-low seven assists.

The difference was at the free throw line — especially down the stretch, when the Mountaineers were 28 of 40 for 70 percent.

“We didn’t shoot well again, but we found a way to win,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said.

Just barely. After leading 49-36 with 4:12 left, West Virginia saw its comfortable lead slashed to three with 2:25 to go. The Hoyas went on a 10-0 run in a little over two minutes, fueled by 3-pointers from shooting guard Gerald Riley and small forward Darrel Owens. But that’s as close as the Hoyas were able to get once the Mountaineers started parading to the foul line. West Virginia made 13 of 18 free throws in the final 2:05.

“They hit some big free throws, and they ran the score back up on us,” said Riley, who finished with 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting. “We couldn’t get the control back after we cut it to three.”

The first half was a nightmare as Georgetown scored a season-low 15 points on 7-for-30 shooting and had 11 turnovers. The Hoyas didn’t move the ball quick enough to get uncontested jumpers.

When they tried to go inside, a human rejector was waiting for them. D’or Fischer, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Northwestern State, blocked six shots in the first half. The Hoyas missed plenty of layups and easy putbacks by rushing their shots because they were aware of Fischer’s presence.

“He’s a force to be reckoned with if you take it up in the lane,” said Hoyas forward Brandon Bowman, who recorded his second career double-double with a co-game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds. “You can expect him to be there to alter your shot. That’s exactly what he did today.”