Navy outhustles Georgetown, scores its first win over the Hoyas since 1977

The Mids stormed into McDonough Arena and bullied the bully in a 78-71 victory over the toughest opponent, on paper, remaining on their schedule.

“We’re changing the culture,” Navy guard Cam Davis said. “We had a couple rough years in my time here, but now we’re starting to develop a culture where winning is what we expect to do. We came in here confident. Our guys came in and put on a show. … We expect to win, though. We’re part of the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. There’s no fear in us. Regardless of who we’re playing or what we’re going to go do, that’s just something we’re bred to do.”

Navy basically controlled the game for all but an early stretch of the second half, when Georgetown rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to take a six-point lead. That lead didn’t last: The Mids tied the score at 58 on a John Carter Jr. transition layup before going on a 12-2 run to grab a 70-62 edge with 3:34 remaining. Georgetown, which had never lost to a Patriot League team, didn’t get closer than five points the rest of the way.

The Hoyas (1-1) seemed a step slow from the outset and failed to bring enough energy to the floor. The Mids (3-1) were quicker to jump in passing lanes, dive for loose balls and go after rebounds.

Navy Coach Ed DeChellis said the game plan was to keep Georgetown off the boards but play its big men straight up defensively. He preferred the bigs trying to score down low and the Hoyas playing in the half court rather than Georgetown raining three-pointers or getting out in transition.

“We’re not a tall team, but we are scrappy,” DeChellis said. “We have tough kids. … They did a really good job of scrapping, knocking balls free. The kids just believed. It’s no magic. The kids just believe that they can win, and they continued to fight. That’s who we are. We’re not a lot of things, but we’ve got some toughness to us and we’ve got some grit and we’ll fight you.”

Davis led all scorers and tied a career high with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting, including 5 for 7 on three-pointers. Georgetown had no answer as the quick, 6-foot guard from Missouri was able to create space at will. Carter added 20 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Senior guard Jahvon Blair and senior swingman Jamorko Pickett scored 17 points apiece for the Hoyas, and sophomore center Qudus Wahab chipped in 16. Georgetown only got one point from its bench.

The Midshipmen led 29-26 at the end of an ugly first half that seemed to set offense back a generation. The Hoyas appeared to be running in mud as the smaller, less athletic Mids played harder.

A 7-1 run, highlighted by a transition three-pointer by Carter, midway through the first half gave Navy a 24-18 lead. Georgetown struggled from the field, but that didn’t excuse listless defense that was a step slow. Navy, without a player over 6-foot-8, outscored Georgetown 12-6 in the paint and outrebounded the Hoyas 23-17 in the first half. (And the Mids had a 40-24 edge in the paint for the game.) That’s unacceptable for a Big East team known for its size and athleticism.

“We couldn’t guard Davis. We couldn’t guard Carter,” Georgetown Coach Patrick Ewing said. “We have to do a much better job, if we want to be good, to be able to contain guys. We weren’t able to do that. When the bigs are open in the post, we have to be able to get them the ball. When they get doubled, they have to pass the ball back out. This is something we’ve been talking about ever since Day 1 once we got back on campus. We have two bigs that should be good bigs for us.”

Georgetown hosts No. 11 West Virginia at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Source: WP