With three seconds remaining in the first half of Oregon’s matchup with Georgetown on Saturday, point guard Aaron Brooks attempted a pass down court only to have it intercepted by the Hoyas’ Jeff Green, who sprinted toward the basket and laid it in as Brooks was called for a foul. Green completed the three-point play with one second remaining to give Georgetown a 28-23 lead at the break.
It was just that type of day for the Ducks (4-2), who lost their second consecutive game of the season, falling 71-57 to the Hoyas (3-1) in front of 9,087 at McArthur Court. The loss ended a 35-game home winning streak for Oregon against non-conference opponents.
“I thought Georgetown did an excellent job. It’s unfortunate we let a game like this get away from us,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “The three-point play at the end of the half was huge. It just gave them the momentum of the game that we really never got back from them from an energy perspective.”
Georgetown’s Ashanti Cook led all scorers with 25 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. He was eight for 10 shooting from the floor. As a team, the Hoyas shot 50 percent from the field.
“(Cook) made some tough shots. The kid had a good day,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “I thought our guys showed a lot of toughness in how we went about our business.”
The Hoyas’ 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert poured in 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Hibbert also had three blocked shots and was perfect on all six attempts from the free-throw line.
“The big fella (Hibbert) was tough inside. He took our inside game away from us completely in terms of changing shots and making it difficult for Ray (Schafer) and Ivan (Johnson) to get anything done inside,” Kent said. “Thankfully, we won’t play anyone with that kind of size again.”
Malik Hairston led the Ducks with 17 points, Brooks chipped in 13, and Bryce Taylor had 12, capping the Oregon players in double figures. The Hoya defense, often switching from man to zone, controlled Oregon’s offense, which was limited to a season-low 57 points and managed only 50 attempts from the field.
“Our offense was a little stagnant today,” Brooks said. “We got off to a good start, but they took away our transition and we struggled in the half court.”
The Ducks raced to a 12-4 lead early in the first half after a three by Brooks and five straight points from Taylor. But Georgetown managed a 9-0 run – seven from Cook – to regain the lead at 13-12. It was a lead the Hoyas would not relinquish.
“I thought we started the game with tremendous energy,” Kent said. “From the first eight to 10 minutes of the game, we had eight straight stops in a row … and I thought we were in great shape in the game, and for some reason, we just went flat. Our legs went dead, we stopped defending, and we let Ashanti Cook get away. It went from us controlling the tempo of the game to where they controlled the tempo of the game.”
Leading 28-23 at halftime, Georgetown scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 35-23 lead. The Ducks would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Hoyas effectively slowed the pace by using most of the shot clock on their possessions.
In addition to an impressive shooting performance, the Hoyas outrebounded the Ducks 37-20, limiting Oregon’s second chance points as well. Georgetown also won the battle at the free-throw line, connecting on 21 of 26 attempts, while the Ducks made only seven of 17.
“We didn’t play basketball like Oregon today,” Hairston said.
Losing two straight games is not the ideal scenario for Kent and company entering the Pape Jam next Saturday against national runner-up Illinois (7-0). The No. 12 Illini, led by senior point guard Dee Brown, defeated the Ducks 83-66 last season before their run to the NCAA Championship game.
Oregon struggles against the Hoyas, lose 71-57
Daily Emerald
December 4, 2005
Oregon’s Ray Schafer (45) contests a shot by Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert Saturday. Georgetown defeated Oregon 71-57, the Ducks’ second loss in as many games.
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