Game Notes & Preview: Providence (17-11, 8-7) at Georgetown (15-11, 5-10) 2/24/18

Where: Capital One Arena – Washington, DC

When: 12:00pm EST

How: CBSSN (Andrew Catalon & Steve Lappas with Tina Cervasio)/Fox Sports GO (Where Available)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Current Odds: pcbb1917 Odds Central

Tickets: SeatGeek

Game Notes

• Providence and Georgetown will meet for the 72nd time ever on Saturday. Georgetown leads the all-time series, 44-27, which includes a loss earlier this season at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on February 6th. The Friars are 7-23 against the Hoyas in Washington DC.
• Georgetown is 15-11 this season, including a 5-10 Big East record. After losing to Providence in early February the Hoyas beat Seton Hall at home and Butler on the road before dropping a game at Capital One Arena to Xavier in their most recent game on Wednesday. Georgetown is coached by Patrick Ewing who is in his 1st season at the helm of the program. The Hoyas are led in scoring by junior Jessie Govan who is averaging 16.7 points/game. Govan also leads the team in rebounding at 10.1 rebounds/game.
• The Friars dropped a game on Wednesday and Thursday against Seton Hall, 89-77, last time out at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center/Alumni Hall against Seton Hall.
• Providence senior forward Rodney Bullock went over 1,000 points in his career against Boston College on November 25th. He became the 48th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points. Bullock is the 17th-fastest Providence player, tied with Eric Murdock, to score his 1,000th point (73 games). Bullock’s current place on the list is 23rd with 1,304 points. He is 2 points behind Erron Maxey.
• Providence senior guard Kyron Cartwright continues his drive up the all-time assist record list at Providence. He began the season tied for 12th with John Linehan (450). Cartwright has 157 assists through 27 games. He has 607 assists in his career, which places him 3rd all-time at Providence. Next on the list in front of Cartwright is Ernie DiGregorio (662). Cartwright recorded his 500th career assist against URI on December 2nd. He is the 7th Providence player to record at least 500 career assists and the 3rd Friar with 600 career assists. Cartwright notched a career-high 15 assists in Providence’s win at St. John’s on December 28th. He recorded his 600th assist in the first half of Providence’s game at Butler on February 17th. Cartwright also surpassed the 1,000 point marker on February 21st against Seton Hall. Cartwright becomes the 49th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points in a career at Providence and he’s the third player to combine that with at least 600 career assists.
• Providence officially announced on November 29th that Emmitt Holt would miss the entire 2017-18 season as a redshirt while he continues to recover from abdominal surgery. Holt has been off campus recovering, but is expected to return to school in January. Holt did return to school over the MLK weekend and is back with the team, though he remains out of competition this season.
• Providence announced on January 11th that former Friar Ernie “Pop” Lewis passed away. Lewis was a key member of Providence’s 1987 Final Four team. You can read the official release and watch a tribute video here.
• Opening Line: Providence +2.5 at Georgetown 2/24/18

Game Preview

Providence and Georgetown will meet for the 72nd time ever on Saturday at Capital One Arena. The game will tip at 12:00pm and be televised on CBS Sports Network. Providence is just 7-23 against Georgetown when playing in Washington DC with 3 of those 7 wins coming over the previous 3 seasons.

The Friars are coming off an odd game that ended up spanning two days due to condensation at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Friars played the first 26:57 of their game against Seton Hall at the Dunk on Wednesday night before the referees suspended the game after deeming the court not safe. The last 13:03 took place on Thursday at 12pm on Providence’s campus at Alumni Hall. The Pirates ran their way to a 12-point victory after leading the first part of the game by 9. Georgetown rattled of a pair of wins after losing to the Friars in Providence earlier this month, marking their first and only win streak in league play. The Hoyas lost to Xavier, 89-77, in their most recent game on Wednesday night at home.

The last meeting between these teams was a bit of a slug fest with the teams combining to shoot 41% on 111 field goal attempts. Jessie Govan did the lion’s share of scoring for the Hoyas, leading all players in the game with 27 points. The junior big man was the lone Georgetown player to score in double figures. The Friars, on the other hand, used a balanced scoring attack with four plays scoring 11 or more points, led by Jalen Lindsey’s 17. The Friars held a big advantage at the free throw line where they made 24 of their 33 attempts while the Hoyas managed just to convert on just 15 of their 24 trips to the charity stripe.

The probable starters are:

Providence

• Kyron Cartwright – #24 – Senior
• Alpha Diallo – #11 – Sophomore
• Jalen Lindsey – #21 – Senior
• Rodney Bullock – #5 – Senior
• Kalif Young – #13 – Sophomore

Georgetown

• Jonathan Mulmore – #2 – Senior
• Kaleb Johnson – #32 – Junior
• Jamorko Pickett – #1 – Freshman
• Marcus Derrickson – #24 – Junior
• Jessie Govan – #15 – Junior

The keys to victory for Providence are force turnovers, convert those turnovers into points and make Georgetown shoot tough 2’s. The Hoyas are dead last in Big East play at hanging onto the ball. Their 21.2% Turnover% for the season ranks 317th nationally. While Providence has done a decent job at turning their opponents over — 5th in league play — they haven’t been as good at converting those turnovers into points. That will be helpful to keep them away from the long scoring droughts they have become increasingly prone to endure. On the other side of the ball the Friars need to defend the 3-point line well and make sure the Hoyas are taking contested 2-pointers as often as possible. Much of Georgetown’s best offensive players are playing at their best when they are making 3-pointers. Conversely, when those players are forced to take 2-point jump shots they have some of their worst games.

Prediction: Providence 77 Georgetown 76

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Mike Hopkins

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