Providence defeated Georgetown 78-68. The win improved the Friars to 4-5 in the Big East, 10-10 overall. The Hoyas fell to 4-5 in the Big East, 13-7 overall.
After falling behind by 12 points early, the Friars ended the half on a 25-8 run and left 38-33 at the half.
The Friars led by as many as 10 points in the second half.
Jayden Pierre's 14 Points led Providence. Georgetown's Micah Peavy finished with a career-high 27 points.
Dealing with Sorber
The Friars didn't succeed much, with Sorber on the offensive end. He went to work on both Christ Essandoko and Oswin Erhunmwunse to school. The freshman finished with 25 points on 10-17 shooting, including scoring from all three levels.
Where English did a good job on Sorber came on the other end. Early on, Sorber was being a defensive menace until the Friars adjusted.
The Friars started running actions that took away Sorber as a weak side defender. He was either out by the three-point defending or he was being forced to be an on-ball post defender.
There were also times when English ran screen-and-roll three steps behind the three-point line, making Sorber defend more space in drop coverage.
Weathered Georgetown's initial storm
Give Kim English and his staff a lot of credit for being calm after Georgetown's hot start. The Hoyas were making shots that they weren't going to continue to make, and English made a subtle but effective change.
The Friars started pressuring the ball and taking the next pass away. By crowding the ball and the next pass, the Hoyas' early 12-point lead was snuffed out before the under-4 in the first half. Providence ended the half on a 25-8 run, giving them a 38=-33 lead.
Attacking Epps
In the second half, it was apparent that the Friars were attacking Jayden Epps on defense. When he was on Jayden Pierre, Epps was attacked off-the-bounce as he went right into Epps' chest.
The Friars also attacked Epps in the middle screen-and-roll, knowing Sorber would be in drop coverage and responsible for staying between the ball and the roll guy. That led to the big Bensley Joseph three-point play late in the second half.