Georgetown (9-8, 1-4 in the Big East) snapped its four game losing streak and earned its first conference win of the season by beating St. John’s (8-10, 2-3 in the Big East) on Monday.
“You lose four in a row to get one,” Hoyas head coach John Thompson III said. “It’s a better feeling than the other day. Now we have to keep improving and moving on.”
LJ Peak finished the game with 16 points and four rebounds. Jagan Mosely and Rodney Pryor scored 13 points each. Pryor also added eight rebounds and three steals. Marcus Derrickson had 11 points, while Jonathan Mulmore tallied seven points and five dimes off the bench.
St. John’s freshman Shamorie Ponds led the Red Storm with 12 points (3-11 FG) and shot 6-9 from the free throw line. Bashir Ahmed registered 10 points and five rebounds. Kassoum Yakwe and Malik Ellison scored seven points each. Marcus Lovett, who scored 32 points in St. John’s last game against Xavier, chipped in 10 points.
Georgetown went into halftime with a 44-37 lead. The Hoyas ran away with the game when they went on a 19-2 run during the opening minutes of the second half.
Takeaways
–Georgetown and St. John’s got into foul trouble during the open minutes of the game. The Hoyas committed six fouls, while the Red Storm had five at the 12 minute mark. Both teams had a combined at the end of the first half. St. John’s continued to have a hard time getting out of foul trouble as they committed seven fouls through the first seven minutes of the second half and finished with 27 team fouls. The fouls led the Hoyas to rack up points from the free throw line.
–St. John’s backcourt duo of Ponds and Lovett were quiet during the game. The Red Storm’s two best scorers shot a combined 2-9 in the first half. Ponds had seven points, while Lovett scored four points. Ponds got most of his first half points from the free throw line as he was 5-6 from the charity stripe. The second half was no different as both players couldn’t gain any momentum on offense. The game probably would have went differently if the two of them were on their A game.
–Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game. He was a bright spot for the Hoyas offensively in the first half especially from behind the arc. Derrickson was 3-3 from downtown. Derrickson quiet down in the second half, not scoring a single point.
–The Red Storm came into Monday’s game as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the Big East. Georgetown held St. John’s to shoot 5-30 from behind the arc. Ponds was 0-5 from the three point line, while Ahmed and Federico Mussini combined to shot 1-12.
–Georgetown was very aggressive defensively from the start. The Hoyas held St. John’s to shoot 27.6 percent from the floor. Georgetown was blocking shots, forcing turnovers, and shot clock violations. Junior forward Akoy Agau tallied three blocks. Jessie Govan, who finished with six points and six rebounds, made some good defensive stops.
–St. John’s fell apart defensively in the second half as the team was outscored 39-18. The Red Storm allowed the Hoyas to get to the rim and score numerous of times. Georgetown managed to outscore St. John’s 40-18 in the paint.
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