Villanova will look to bounce back from Wednesday’s loss to Marquette on Saturday when it takes on Georgetown in D.C.
It’s been a struggle for the Hoyas so far this season, as they enter with a 6-9 mark. They’ve lost five in a row, including their first four in Big East play.
Georgetown has had issues on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Hoyas have struggled from 2-point range, hitting just 44.1%. They’ve also had turnover issues, turning it over on 20% of their possessions. Defensively, they’ve struggled at all levels, ranking 217th in opponent’s 2-point percentage and 278th in opponent’s 3-point percentage. They also haven’t forced a ton of turnovers.
However, Villanova won’t be taking the Hoyas lightly.
“I think they haven’t had their guys, COVID’s kind of in the way of that, they’re just getting their full roster back,” Jermaine Samuels said. “There’s been a lot of factors for them, having to think on the fly. Now that they have their guys at full strength, I think they’ll be a completely different team.”
“Gonna play a Georgetown team that I think has finally gotten everybody back, finally healthy,” Jay Wright added. “Looked really good against Providence last (Thursday) night. They’ve got great 3-point shooting, great size and of course we’re getting them when they’re healthy. I think they’re ready to make a run, they look like they’re playing good basketball.”
Wright hit on a few key points there that raise some concerns for the ‘Cats despite what the matchup looks like on paper. The biggest concern is Georgetown’s 3-point shooting. It’s one area where the Hoyas have excelled offensively. Of course, perimeter defense was a major issue for the Wildcats on Wednesday night against Marquette, as the Golden Eagles shot 10% better than their season average on the way to raining 13 3s on the ‘Cats and building a 21-point advantage from beyond the arc. It’s something ‘Nova will need to be better at on Saturday.
“The 3-pointers killed us in that game, and we had been doing a good job for the last five or six games defending the 3 and in that game we did not,” Wright said. “It’s one of the tough things about going into a Georgetown game. Between (Kaiden) Rice and (Donald) Carey in the Providence game they had 10 3s just between the two of them, five each, and obviously Marquette had 13 against us. It’s something we definitely have to be aware of but their bigs are great and they’re huge and if you get spread out too much, they’ll hit you on those rolls for dunks so we gotta have a balance defensively.”
The last part of Wright’s quote brings us to the second concern: Georgetown’s size. The Hoyas boast three seven-footers averaging at least 11 minutes per game: 7-0 Timothy Ighoefe, 7-0 Malcolm Wilson and 7-2 Ryan Mutombo. The Hoyas also have 6-8 forward Jalin Billingsley, the 6-7 Rice, and 6-6 forward Collin Holloway each playing double figure minutes. In addition, 6-5 Aminu Mohammed leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 per game and 6-5 Donald Carey adds 5.4. Even 6-0 guard Dante Harris chips in 3.5 rebounds per game.
While the Hoyas have had some issues converting from inside the arc, they do have viable weapons there and, as Wright noted, if you over-extend trying to defend the 3 Georgetown can punish you for it. They obviously rebound reasonably well as a team, and offensive rebounding has been the one other area of excellence for the Hoyas offensively, grabbing 34.7% of their opportunities and ranking 25th in the country.
Villanova will have to continue the strong rebounding it has shown over the last six games, as well as the elite 2-point defense. The ‘Cats will have to be careful working to slow down Georgetown’s 3-point shooting.
The last bit of caution for the ‘Cats comes from the recent history between the teams. Yes, Villanova is 3-1 in its last four against the Hoyas, but one of those was a one-point victory and one required a superb second-half effort to pull out. And the Hoyas got the better of the ‘Cats in the most recent meeting between the teams, a 72-71 Georgetown win in last season’s Big East Tournament.
Rice leads the way with 13.9 points per game. He adds 3.2 rebounds and has hit 40.9% of his 3-point attempts. Mohammed is right behind with 13.7 points to go with his team-high 8.4 rebounds. He’s hit 35.7% form deep. Carey chips in 13.5 points and 5.4 rebounds while hitting 48.4% from deep. Harris rounds out the double figure scorers for the Hoyas with 12.6 points, adding 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
Holloway adds support with 8.8 points and 2.8 rebounds while connecting on 45% from 3. Mutombo chips in 5.2 points and 3.5 boards, Tyler Beard adds 4.2 points while Ighoefe chips in 3.5 points and 7.6 rebounds.
Wilson (3.4 pts, 3.1 reb), Jordan Riley (3.2 pts, two rebounds) and Billingsley (2.6 pts, 2.6 boards) round out the players playing 10+ minutes.
On paper, it looks like it should be an easy ‘Nova win. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way, especially in conference play and particularly against a rival. As we’ve noted, the Hoyas present some challenges for Villanova. Still, there should be some opportunities for Villanova, especially at the offensive end. If the ‘Cats can take advantage, clean up the perimeter defense and continue the strong performance on the boards, in the paint and defending inside the arc they should be able to handle business.
The Wildcats clearly are aware of the potential pitfalls presented by the Hoyas and of the things they need to improve upon from Wednesday’s performance and they won’t be taking the Hoyas lightly.
“It’s gonna be a tough game, it always is down there,” Wright said.
The game is scheduled for a noon tip and will air on FOX.
