BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Syracuse vs Georgetown

March 10, 2006


It has been a VERY exciting two days in New York City for the Syracuse Orange under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden and senior Gerry McNamara has been making his last Big East Conference Tournament a memorable one. G-Mac hit a buzzer-beating game winner against Cincinnati in the 1st round, which definitely saved the Syracuse season and yesterday, he hit the shot that sent the game to overtime in the Orange 86-84 victory over #1 Connecticut. Does he have any magic left for Georgetown?

Very quietly, maybe because they had to follow the McNamara heroics two days in a row, the Georgetown Hoyas have pushed their way into the semifinals with wins over Notre Dame and Marquette. Neither win was a work of arc, as the Georgetown offense struggled for long stretches, but the Hoyas kept after it on the defensive end and on the boards to pull out the wins.

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Georgetown was struggling yesterday, scoring just 26 points 5 minutes into the second half, but hanging with Marquette because of their defense. The Golden Eagles were containing the Princeton-style offense with a tough match-up zone. However, Tom Crean was hoping to energize his offense, that had scored only 29 pts to that point and switched to a man-to-man defense and it breathed life into the Hoyas offense. Georgetown's offense is based on high effeceiency and against the Marquette man-to-man defense, it lived up to its reputation scoring on 12 of their next 16 possessions, led by versatile Jeff Green. The Hoya frontline of Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bowman and Green was able to get Syracuse is foul toruble when they met in Washington 13 days ago and will look to do so again. However, they are going to have to do it against the Syracuse zone.

Syracuse has gotten new life, thanks to McNamara's late game heroics, but he has had much more help throughout the game the last two days than earlier in the season. Darryl Watkins has played some of his best basketball of the season in the post on both ends of the floor and Terrence Roberts has upped his production. Demetris Nochols hot some shots yesterday and Eric Devendorf is a fearless freshmen that gets to the basket and finishes with either hand. McNamara registered 13 assists yesterad in addition to his big shot (17 pts), which showed how much the other players steped up their game to finish around the basket.

I expect another close game tonight. I think they teams do match up very well. Georgetown has the edge in the frontcourt and Syracuse has a backcourt edge. Neither team is very deep at all, but Syracuse can go a little deeper. I think once again, it will come down to foul trouble and Roberts and Watkins are much more likely to pick up some quick fouls, and that could kill them tonight. Not playing it on the road might help Syracuse manage the fouls a little better. Georgetown, as always, must make shots. They will have to do it against the SU zone. The Hoyas are 4-pt favorites, and I see another close one. Does Gerry save the day again?


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 67 Syracuse 65

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Georgetown vs Marquette

March 9, 2006


Georgetown will look to start the game this afternoon better than it did yesterday when they found themselves down 11-0 to start the game. They managed to come back and ride the play of Brandon Bowman to defeat Notre Dame and earn a shot at Marquette in the quarterfinals. Marquette was the benefeciary of Georgetown's surprising loss at South Florida in the regular season finale to earn the 4th bye in their first Big East Conference Tournament as a member of the Big East. These two teams met in the Bradley Center in the regular season and Marquette came up big down the stretch for a 57-51 win.

Here are some pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

Crean Tells Golden Eagles to Enjoy Garden Party



To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!

READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


Back on February 16 when these two teams met, Jeff Green had a game he would rather forget. Georgetown's best all-around talent shot just 1-6 from the floor, grabbed 6 rebounds and committed 8 turnovers. In fact, other than Roy Hibbert, none of the Hoyas had a particulary good outing, as the rest of the team, besides Hibbert who scored 17 pts on 8-10 shooting, shot 13-42 from the line and 5-21 from 3-pt range in their 6-pt loss.

Marquette rode Steve Novak's 5-8 performance from beyond the arc and his 19 pts overall to earn the victory. Dominic James added 16 and Jerel McNeal 10 in the win. The young Golden Eagles are going to have to adjust to playing in the Garden quickly and can not be awestruck of their surroundings tonight. One thing has been for certain all season, Marquette has no been in awe of too many situations.

For Georgetown to be successful, they need to establish Hibbert early and often. Even though he got 17 pts and 8 rebounds in the first meeting, the Hoyas went LONG stretches without feeding him the ball. Marquette and Tom crean will rotate Ousmane Barro, Chris Grimm, Ryan Amoroso and anyone else they can on him, hoping to wear him down and body up the big 7'2 center in hopes of containing him. From there, the Hoyas will look to Jeff Green and Brandon Bowman to use their size against a smaller Marquette frontline. If Georgetown is forced to go small and match-up with the quicker Marquette line-up, the Hoyas could be in some trouble. Bowman is coming off a 25-pt performance in their opening win over Notre Dame. Green will have the tough task of shadowing Novak on the perimeter and if the Hoyas turn to their match-up zone to prevent the ultra-quick James from achieving dribble penetration against the Georgetown guards, the Hoyas better know where Novak is at all times.

Marquette will look to use their supreme quickness to get the Hoyas out of their flow. Georgetown is a unique team to play against as they really look to slow down the game. Marquette is much better suited to playing in a wide open environment and FAST. James' dribble penetration is one of the best weapons in the league and Novak is the league's best 3-pt shooter. They will need have help from Jerel McNeal, Joe Chapman and Wesley Mathews offensively as they will need to be patient on both ends of the floor.

Georgetown opens as a 2-pt favorite today and the Hoyas are a difficult match-up as one of the truly unique conference teams. Marquette has been playing really well of late and have stood up to every new challenge they have faced this season. The duo of Novak and James has been special to watch all season and really has made their team into the surprise of the league. Today, however, I am going to side on the experience of Georgetown here. I think Hibbert will be able to establish himself offensively early on and Jeff Green comes to play today. This is going to be a very good game with two teams that should doe very well in the NCAA Tournament. I think Marquette is better suited for next week than this week and has a very tough match-up today. Tempo is the key, so I will side with the defense, experience and rebounding, but it will not be easy, for either team.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 66 Marquette 62

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Notre Dame vs Georgetown

March 8, 2006


I do not think there has even been a better 12-seed in ANY conference tournament better than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. When your conference has Notre Dame seeded 12 and Louisville seeded 11, you know you are watching something special.

Today, Notre Dame tries to put their season behind them and start anew against Georgetown, who needs to put the awful taste of their regular season-ending loss at South Florida. Georgetown should be watching this game from their hotel, not playing in it. They will need to put that out of their mind, quickly!

Here are the pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

Irish Eye Their Shot (Journal Gazette)
Irish Know All About Must Wins (Chicago Sun-Times)
Hot Seat? Brey a cool Customer (Chicago Tribune)
To Defend Hoyas, Irish Need Patience (South Bend Tribune)

To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!

READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW



Georgetown and Notre Dame meet for the 2nd time this year. In their first meeting, Notre Dame forced overtime with an improbable 4-pt play by Colin Falls in the waning seconds to force OT, but the Hoyas emerged victorious in double OT.

Notre Dame came up with two straight wins to qualify for the Big East Tournament in the last week, so they have been facing pressure for a couple weeks now. They have won five of their last seven games to get here. All season long, close losses have been the trademark of their season.

Georgetown was 8-2 at one point in conference play but stumbled down the stretch, losing four of their last six, but none more head scratching than their loss to South Florida on Saturday night, costing the Hoyas a 1st round bye.

Georgetown starts an imposing frontline with Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bowman and Jeff Green. The Irish will likely counter with a small line-up that includes 4-guards at times: Chris Quinn, Kyle McAlarney, Russell Carter and Colin Falls along with Torin Francis inside. Georgetown might be bigger, but they are ahletic as well and can go into a match-up zone to cover their shooters and still not be subject to a mis-match. Notre Dame will probably have to go a little bigger with Rob Kurz and Rick Cornett off the bench. Niether team is tremendously deep, but fatigue will not be much of a problem tonigh, that will come into play for the winner tomorrow.

Georgetown is just a 3-pt favorite, but look for a fired-up effort from the Hoyas coming off the humiliating loss at South Florida. Defense and rebounding wins in the Garden, Georgetown is head and shoulders above ND in those departments. The Irish 3-pt shooting will keep them within striking distance, but in the end, too much Georgetown size and some timely shooting wins this one.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 74 Notre Dame 66

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Big East Game Preview: Georgetown @ South Florida

March 4, 2006

South Florida looks to avoid a winless conference season as they host Georgetown, who looks to nail down the 4th and final bye in the 2006 Big East Conference Basketball Tournament.


To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!

READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


These two teams have met one before this year and it was a narrow escape, at home, for the Hoyas in a 50-47 win over the Bulls. Neither team will go very deep on the bench and the Bulls have had an uncanny ability to keep games close at home, despite being outclassed in personnel with nearly every opponent in the Big East. Robert McCullum has his Bulls playing hard, even while down 18-0 to UConn, the Bulls clawed their way back, cutting the lead to three in the last 10 minutes before succumbing to the elite talent of the Huskies.

The Bulls have some players. James Holmes is as capable of any in the league to drop 30 and Melvin Buckley, when on, will hit shots from anywhere. Solomon Jones doesn't have much help on the boards or inside, but he is also not looking over his shoulder and can perform with confidence.

Georgetown is not a team that will run away and hide from an opponent offensively, but they can play some impressive defense with a match-up zone that can squeeze the life out of you. With their length and athleticism, especially along the frontline with Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green and Brandon Bowman, I think the Bulls are still going to struggle scoring points. The question, and it is still my main question with the Hoyas, will they score enough. Against the Bulls, I think the answer will be yes, even on the road, on almost all occassions, but they better not fall asleep at the wheel here...

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 60 South Florida 52

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