The #11 Villanova Wildcats will tip off against the Georgetown Hoyas tomorrow afternoon in the nation’s capital. The ‘Cats, coming off a disappointing home loss at the hands of Marquette, will be looking to right the ship against a Georgetown team that has lost 5 in a row.
The Hoyas have yet to secure a conference win this season and presently sit in the Big East basement at 0-4. The Hoyas’ most impressive win this season thus far is a 4-point squeaker over 9-9 Syracuse. As for their low point? The Hoyas were blown out by Butler, a team that has been smoked by nearly every other team in the Big East. Things are rough down in DC right now.
So, what can the Wildcats expect against a struggling and desperate Hoyas squad?
Guard Heavy
The Hoyas are led by a trio of guards: freshman Aminu Mohammed, sophomore Dante Harris, and senior Donald Carey. Mohammed, a versatile and athletic playmaker, leads the team with 13.8 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. He has great vision and has the size (6’5, 210) to take a defender to the rim.
Harris, an undersized but hard-nosed facilitator, leads the team in assists (4.9) and steals (1.8). With a year under his belt, Harris has developed into the team’s third leading scorer (13.0 points per game) while logging heavy minutes. However, Harris has struggled with ball security - averaging nearly 3 turnovers a game.
Carey, the team’s senior captain, is averaging 13.5 points per game and is coming off an impressive 21 point performance against #21 Providence on Thursday night. Carey was previously sidelined for a few games with an illness but appears to have gotten back into form pretty quickly.
Additionally, senior guard Kaiden Rice - coming off the bench - dropped 19 on Providence on 5-7 from deep.
An Offensive Defense
The Hoyas’ defense ranks 206th in KenPom, worst in the conference by nearly 100 spots. Georgetown ranks sub-230 in eFG% and turnover% - in fact, the only defensive stat in which Georgetown does not rank in triple digits is Block %. This year, the Hoyas have struggled mightily guarding the perimeter as Ewing’s squad frequently gets spun around and over-helps on ball screens. It will be a brutal indictment of Villanova’s offense if the Wildcats cannot capitalize on this glaring weakness. Zero excuses for this one.
Turnover Central
On the offensive end, the Hoyas play fast (29th in tempo) and look to push the ball in transition. On paper, it’s a modern and dynamic game-plan that capitalizes on the squad’s athleticism and leads to quality looks. In practice, it’s been a disjointed and turnover prone nightmare thus far for the Hoyas. The Hoyas rank 270th in turnover% on offense averaging nearly 15 per game. Villanova’s defense, looking to bounce back from a somewhat confounding performance against Marquette, should be able to disrupt a Hoya offense still trying to find its footing.
The game tips off tomorrow at 12:00 pm on Fox.
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