Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The Orange held top-seeded Georgetown (25-6) to 22 percent shooting from 3-point range with their trademark 2-3 zone and got a big game from their bench to avenge two previous losses to the Hoyas this season.
Markel Starks led the Hoyas with 20 points but it was Porter who took over down the stretch in a 69-63 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.
The arrival of the Big East schedule promised to clear up some issues for a Georgetown team whose murky play during the nonconference slate left some wondering about the prognosis for this young group. So far, the results have not been pretty.
Rebounding is one of the aspects of basketball that can be difficult to teach, given the unpredictable nature of where the ball will bounce, combined with the complex chemistry of positioning, strength, agility and desire needed to corral it, all the while fending off an opposing player hoping to do the exact same thing.
In this year of transition for Georgetown, coach John Thompson III has stressed that everyone on the roster is still learning their way, tasked with making sense of new positions, greater responsibilities and increased pressures to perform.
Georgetown coach John Thompson III generally bristles when asked about his team running the Princeton offense, which features an array of precision passes, backdoor cuts and other off-ball movements that makes it difficult to defend.
John Thompson III wasn't happy. His Georgetown Hoyas had upset No. 11 UCLA on Monday and taken No. 1 Indiana into overtime before losing Tuesday. Four days later, the Hoyas were barely ahead of Mount St. Mary's at halftime.
Georgetown's overtime thriller against No. 1 Indiana on Tuesday showed off the tantalizing potential and painful inexperience of sophomore center Mikael Hopkins.
Georgetown might have been expected to look past Liberty a bit, and instead think ahead to next week's games against No. 13 UCLA and, possibly, No. 1 Indiana. Well, junior forward Nate Lubick pretty much said that's what happened to the Hoyas.
The Redskins are awful, and the Capitals are disappointing. The Nationals could be a year away; Mark Turgeon's Terrapins might be two. And the Wizards will be 0-7 unless they somehow manage to upset the New York Knicks on Friday at Verizon Center.
"With Nate (Lubick) getting into foul trouble, Coach allowed me to play a little bit longer, and with that being said I was able to get in my groove," Hopkins said. "When I made mistakes he let me play through it."
"We have to box out our man," forward Mikael Hopkins said. "When the shot goes up, find our man and box him out. Hopefully, that will stop their second chance shots."
