Game Notes & Preview: Providence (10-5, 0-2) at Georgetown (11-5, 1-2) 1/12/19

Where: Capital One Arena – Washington, D.C.

When: 12:00pm EST

How: FS1 (Dave O’Brien & Tarik Turner)/Fox Sports GO app (where available)/WPRO 99.7 FM & 630AM, TuneIn and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• Providence and Georgetown will meet for the 73rd time ever on Saturday. The Hoyas hold the advantage in the all-time series, 44-28. The Friars have won 8 straight games against Georgetown. The Hoyas recently held an 8 game win streak over Providence from January 2006 through January 2013.
• Georgetown is 11-5 overall and 1-2 in Big East play this season. The Hoyas opened Big East play with a win at Butler on January 2nd, but then dropped their last two contests at home against St. John’s, in overtime, and at Xavier last time out on Wednesday. Patrick Ewing is in his 2nd season at the helm of the Georgetown program.
• Ed Cooley passed Al McClellan on the all-time wins list for Providence head coaches with the Friars’ win over Iona on November 24th. Cooley is now in 4th place.
• Providence was picked 3rd in the preseason Big East Coaches’ Poll. Junior Alpha Diallo was named to the Preseason First Team All-Big East and David Duke was Preseason co-Freshman of the Year with Villanova’s Jahvon Quinerly.
• Providence announced the signing of 2019 commit Greg Gantt on November 16th. Gantt, a native of North Carolina, is currently the only committed player for Providence next season. The Friars will also add preferred walk-on Tommy Dempsey next season, the son of the Binghamton head coach announced via his Twitter on December 19th.
• The Big East, USA Basketball and Providence announced on December 18th that the 2019 USA Pan American men’s basketball team will be represented solely by Big East players and coached by Ed Cooley.
• The Friars lost to Villanova, 65-59, at home last time out after showing abysmal offense for most of the first 32 minutes before a comeback attempt fell short in the final 30 seconds. Makai Ashton-Langford led the way for Providence with 20 points in his best game of the season.
• Opening Line: Providence +1 at Georgetown 1/12/19

Game Preview

Providence and Georgetown will meet for the 73rd time ever on Saturday. The Friars are 8-23 against the Hoyas in Washington, D.C. The Friars have won 8 straight against Georgetown, which comes on the heels of the Hoyas winning 8 straight against the Friars before the teams split the season series in 2014.

The Hoyas offense has relied on 3-pointers and free throws, but they have struggled with turnovers. Georgetown has one of the best assist rates in the country. The Hoyas rank 10th nationally, per Kenpom, with 63.4% of made field goals being assisted. Through 3 conference games, Georgetown has upped that rate to 71.6% and that is the best in the Big East so far. Freshman James Akinjo has been impressive, as has fellow rookie Mac McClung. McClung has missed the last 4 games with an ankle injury suffered after breaking the Georgetown record for most points in a game by a freshman with 38 points against Arkansas-Little Rock. Patrick Ewing hasn’t provided any update on McClung’s status for this game.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence

• David Duke – #3 – Freshman
• Maliek White – #4 – Junior
• Alpha Diallo – #11 – Junior
• Jimmy Nichols – #10 – Freshman
• Nate Watson – #0 – Sophomore

Georgetown

• James Akinjo – #3 – Freshman
• Greg Malinowski – #11 – Senior
• Jamorko Pickett – #1 – Sophomore
• Josh LeBlanc – #23 – Freshman
• Jessie Govan – #15 – Senior

The keys to victory for Providence are to play tough defense without fouling and avoid long scoring droughts. The Friars are generally good at playing tough defense without putting their opponent at the free throw line, but this season has shown a lack of defensive consistency that has to drive Ed Cooley nuts. Akinjo is player that gets to the line most often for the Hoyas, but the interior Friars will also have to worry about playing Jessie Govan tough and not allow him to get going with offensive rebounds. On offense, Providence needs to avoid going without points for long stretches. That has been a problem for the Hoyas here and there also, as has coughing up leads. The Friars tried to claw back against Villanova last weekend, but their horrendous shooting put them in too big of a hole to overcome. Winning on the road is always easier when you make outside shots.

Prediction: Providence 68 Georgetown 73

Follow me on Twitter & Instagram @pcbb1917

About Author

Mike Hopkins

See author's posts