Georgetown Basketball: Hoyas earn first Big East win with beat down against St. John’s

Georgetown basketball finally earned their first Big East victory of the season as they crushed St. John’s at the Verizon Center.

The Georgetown Hoyas came into Monday night’s battle against St. John’s with an 0-4 record in the Big East. They were competitive in games against Marquette, Xavier, Providence and Butler, but the Hoyas lost two winnable games on the road and failed to capitalize on opportunities against two ranked teams in their own building.

On Monday night, the Hoyas finally got on the board though, as they were victorious over the St. John’s Red Storm, 83-55, at the Verizon Center.

“It’s a better feeling than the other day,” Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said postgame about earning their first Big East win. “Now we just have to keep improving and move on, you have to grow from every experience whether it’s a loss or a win. There’s a lot we can take from this win as we move on.”

The Hoyas were led by L.J. Peak and Rodney Pryor, who combined to score 29 points on 9-of-21 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. They also received a lift from freshman Jagan Mosely (13 points on 3-of-5 shooting), Marcus Derrickson (11 points on 4-of-6 shooting) and quick JUCO point guard Jonathan Mulmore (nine points).

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While they scored 83 points, it was ultimately the Hoyas defense that carried them to a victory. They shut down St. John’s two best players, Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett, forcing them to shoot 6-of-18 from the field and turn the ball over a combined eight times. Mulmore, Mosely and Peak used their length and lateral quickness to limit the guard’s production off the dribble. They also challenged every perimeter shot SJU hoisted.

St. John’s shot 28 percent from the field overall and made only five field goals in the second frame. The Red Storm also hit just 5-of-30 threes, and when they did attack the rim (which was very rare), the Hoyas’ bigs were there to either alter or block the shots.

The Hoyas themselves played a sloppy offensive game, but it was clearly a promising defensive performance that Thompson’s team can build on moving forward.

“I told the guys after the game, I thought as much as any time this year, I think they really listened and executed our defensive game plan,” Thompson said after the game. “They shot 5-of-30 (from three), that’s not going to happen too often. They lead our league in threes made and I think a lot of their misses, we made them miss. So I just think our defensive execution tonight is moving towards where it needs to be.”

St. John’s is not exactly a world-beater in the Big East, however, with two more home games coming up against UConn and Providence, the Hoyas could pick up a bit of momentum heading into ranked battles against Xavier and Creighton.

Meanwhile, the Johnnies have lost three straight games after starting 2-0 in the Big East. They upset Butler at home and knocked off DePaul on the road, but they were pounded by Creighton, Xavier and Georgetown in three straight outings. Even though they put up somewhat of a fight against the Bluejays and Musketeers, St. John’s was run out of the gym in the second half against Georgetown due to poor three point shooting, rough transition defense and an utter embarrassment on the glass (50-30).

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While Georgetown has a soft patch of games coming up, the Johnnies get right back at it against No. 3 Villanova on Saturday at Madison Square Garden before hosting DePaul on Monday. It looks like it won’t get any easier for Chris Mullin and company.