Georgetown Basketball: Toughness is Hoyas calling card in 2019-20

The last two weeks have been as rough as they come for Georgetown. It started with a loss to UNC-Greensboro.

Unfortunately for the Hoyas, that wasn’t the low point. News broke that players from the program had possibly been involved in a sexual assault and robbery. The allegation pointed to three Georgetown basketball players: Josh LeBlance, Myron Gardner, and Galen Alexander.

LeBlanc would put his name in the transfer portal along with James Akinjo. It should be noted that Akinjo’s transfer request is unrelated to the legal dealings of the other players.

Gardner and Alexander would travel and play in the next two Georgetown games on the road.

The Hoyas would defeat previously undefeated Oklahoma State and SMU on the road. The two true road wins should serve the Hoyas well if they’re deep on the bubble.

But the good feeling could only last for so long. As the Hoyas returned home, the news came out that “dozens of professors” had signed a petition demanding transparency from the University.

Also Gardner and Alexander both decided to transfer with Alexander taking a shot at the University saying “the University has allowed me to become a target and subjected to unfair treatment”.

With that as the backdrop, old Big East rival, Syracuse was coming to town. Armed with seven scholarship players and a raucous crowd, Georgetown would defeat Syracuse, 89-79.

As been the case during the last three games, Mac McClung led the Hoyas in scoring with 26 points. He scored 21 in the first half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, as the Hoyas ended the first 20 minutes with a 12 point lead.

The game slowed down in the second half which meant it was time for Omer Yurtseven to shine. Yurtseven scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. Most came on dunks and layups as Georgetown continuously broke Syracuse’s press and traps.

The Orange wouldn’t go away easy as they got within eight several times in the second half but each time the Hoyas had an answer.

Most of all, what Syracuse provided the Hoyas today was a much-needed sense of normalcy. Just a hard-fought, knuckle-up game between two rivals.

Who knows what Georgetown will do the rest of the season with only seven scholarship players but what we do know is this team will be molded in the image of their coach.

Tough and resilient.