College Hoops

NOT SOLD IN STORRS: No. 2 UConn Huskies Hold Off Georgetown Hoyas, 84-73

NOT SOLD IN STORRS: No. 2 UConn Huskies Hold Off Georgetown Hoyas, 84-73

With the exam period behind them, your Georgetown Hoyas traveled up to Storrs, Connecticut to take on the 2nd best team in the country in the UConn Huskies. Georgetown opened up as 23.5pt underdogs, which is the largest underdog spread the Hoyas have faced since the Big East was founded in 1979. Despite the long odds, Georgetown put up a strong effort and tested the Huskies more than any other team has so far this season, as this was the first game all year in which UConn trailed at any point in the 2nd half. However, thanks to a deep bench, UConn held off the Georgetown upset and prevailed by 11.

The UConn faithful welcomed Akok Akok (10PTS, 5 REBS) back to Gampel Pavilion with a standing ovation and Akok wasted no time greeting his former teammates and coaches with a corner 3 directly in front of the Husky bench. Over the next several minutes, the teams traded buckets before Akok Akok again said hello to an old friend with a monster block that sent UConn guard Jordan Dawkins (15PTS) to the floor as the Hoyas captilized on the fast break with a Brandon Murray (10PTS, 8TOs) jam. The Huskies had a couple of consecutive turnovers, but Georgetown failed to take advantage of their mistakes and went into the under 12 timeout down 4.

Ewing opted for the full court pressure out of the timeout, but UConn guard, Andre Jackson Jr. (7PTS, 8REBS), made him pay with a wide-open dunk. Play continued to be back and forth with Wahab (16PTS, 9REBS), Heath (10PTS), and Spears (19PTS, 3ASTs, 4TOs) all getting in on the scoring action. Wahab capped off a solid 4 minutes of play with a silky hook shot to give Georgetown a 25-23 lead before an official TV timeout at the 8 minute mark.

Inside the huddle, coach Ewing stressed defensive effort and communication, and while it may have been the right idea, the UConn scoring continued. However, silly mistakes by the Huskies plus strong offensive possessions from Georgetown kept the high-scoring game close. Of note, Andre Jackson Jr. drilled a 3 in front of Coach Ewing but directed some lipservice toward the Hoya bench and was awarded with a technical foul. Headed into the under 4 timeout, Georgetown trailed by 3.

UConn tried to stretch the lead before the end of the first half as Adama Sanogo (14PTS, 7REBS) and Jordan Dawkins knocked down a couple of triples, but Jay Heath alleviated some of the scoring pressure with a 3 of his own. Overall, the first half was a track meet with the Hoyas hanging in there on the offensive side…

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