- January 21st, 2006, 7:27 pm
#1033
ASOR Technical Advisor and Graphics Consultant
well you knew it had to happen, but GEORGETOWN? (I woulda bet Memphis, maybe)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/ ... ION=SPORTS
Fans Storm Court After Hoyas Stop Duke
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/ ... ION=SPORTS
Fans Storm Court After Hoyas Stop Duke
By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Georgetown fans surged on the court at the buzzer, celebrating a win that evoked the Hoyas' powerhouse days of John Thompson and Patrick Ewing - an 87-84 victory over No. 1 and previously unbeaten Duke.
The Blue Devils (17-1) have never been 18-0, and paint-defending, layup-producing Georgetown wasn't about to let it happen Saturday, despite J.J. Redick matching his career high of 41 points for Duke.
With surprisingly easy backdoor moves and open 3-pointers, the unranked Hoyas shot 61 percent, built a double-digit lead deep into the second half and nervously survived the frantic final minutes to preserve the upset.
Brandon Bowman scored 23 points, and Jeff Green had 18 for the Hoyas (12-4), who had lost nine straight against ranked opponents and hadn't beaten a No. 1 team since an 85-69 win over St. John's on Feb. 27, 1985. The victory marks the first defining moment for the school under coach John Thompson III, son of the Hall of Fame coach who guided the Hoyas for more than two decades.
Redick played like the All-American he is, but Shelden Williams scored a season-low four as the Hoyas' defense left the big man no room to maneuver in the paint. Duke's 17-0 record had matched the best start in school history.
Duke methodically cut a 16-point deficit to two on Williams' layup with 4:03 remaining, but Jonathan Wallace answered with a reverse layup, and Darrel Owens capped a chaotic sequence with a fast-break dunk to get the lead back to six. Bowman's fast-break dunk made the score 82-74 with 1:15 left, but poor Hoyas free-throw shooting - 7-for-12 over the final 1:46 - gave Duke a final chance to tie that ended with Wallace stealing the ball from freshman point guard Greg Paulus near midcourt with 4 seconds left.
Georgetown was shooting better than 65 percent for most of the game, but the nerves started to get to the Hoyas with about eight minutes to play. A tentative possession ended with a bad pass that Redick converted into a three-point play that made the score 66-59, putting the deficit into single digits for the first time in the second half.
Sensing an upset, the Georgetown fans roared like never before in the MCI Center. The Hoyas have sold out the building only twice - both against Duke - since the building opened in 1997. The crowd of 20,035 was nearly all for Duke in the upper deck, and good chunks of the middle and lower decks were pro-Blue Devils as well. The attendance was more than triple that Hoyas' MCI Center average of 6,131 entering the game.
Duke didn't hit the rim on its first three possessions - a turnover, an air ball and a block on Williams by Roy Hibbert - and the Blue Devils found themselves stifled by a Duke-like Georgetown defense, a tough man-to-man that pressured the ball and clogged the paint when necessary.
Bowman's reverse dunk - on a backdoor play, naturally - put Georgetown ahead 18-8, making the Hoyas the first team to lead Duke by double digits this season.
Duke led only once in the game, when Redick pulled off a solo 8-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers to make the score 22-20 with 8:10 remaining in the first half.
Otherwise, the first-half offense highlights were produced by a balanced attack of backdoors and 3-pointers from Georgetown. A 19-5 run that included five Georgetown layups ended the first half, and Green showing no sign of intimidation when he went around Williams for a reverse layup.
The score was 42-28 in a half in which the Hoyas shot 67 percent.
Georgetown's assist-to-turnover ratio was 24-to-16. Only one other team, Valparaiso, had more assists than turnovers against the Blue Devils this season.
JLFJR wrote:Thanks for your input, PA! Very helpful.
ASOR Technical Advisor and Graphics Consultant