Former Georgetown basketball star Austin Freeman has been charged with seven traffic offenses, including driving under the influence of alcohol, the Washington Times reported today.

On June 25 at 4:05 a.m., Maryland State Police in Prince George’s County stopped former Georgetown basketball star Austin Freeman, who was going 71 mph in a 50-mph zone. He was cited for DUI, reckless driving, negligent driving, failure to obey a traffic control device, and not displaying the vehicle registration card when asked by the officer.

Two days before the incident, Freeman learned that he had gone undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft. The 2010-2011 Big East Preseason Player of the Year had high hopes, especially after working out for several NBA teams and reportedly dropping 20 pounds since Georgetown’s season ended. But no team came calling and the shooting guard was left to ponder his next move.

Freeman finished his career on the Hilltop with 1,761 points, the seventh most in Georgetown history. He also ranks third all-time in three pointers made with 187 and second all-time in free throw percentage, making 82.6 percent of his shots from the charity stripe. In his senior season, Freeman averaged a team-leading and career-best 17.6 points per game.

Driving under the influence of alcohol carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, and a 45-day license suspension.

h/t Washington Times

The Georgetown women’s basketball team opened up the first round of the NCAA tournament with a commanding 65-49 win over Princeton on Sunday afternoon. It is the second straight year the team has won its opening round game.  The fifth-seeded Hoyas came out strong and relied on star player Sugar Rodgers to down the 12th-seeded Tigers.

First half performance

Georgetown held Princeton to 14 points in the first half while Rodgers alone scored 16 points.  The Hoyas’ suffocating full court press shut down the Tigers’ offense, holding them to 28.6 percent shooting and forcing 14 turnovers in the half.  The Hoyas took advantage of the Tigers’ miscues and scored 22 points off turnovers.  Georgetown also shot a staggering 46.2 percent from downtown, half of which came from Rodgers. Princeton adjusted in the second half and outscored the Hoyas 35-31, but couldn’t make up the large first half margin.

“This time we went full court, our madness press because we wanted to start the pressure up a little bit higher and be just a little more aggressive,” head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said.

Sugar Rodgers

Sugar Rodgers demonstrated why she is the team leader, scoring 26 points. She also led the team with 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. It was her first double-double since Jan. 8 against Marquette, when she also had 26 points and 10 rebounds. Rodgers shot 8-for-18 from the field and 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.  Juniors Tia Magee and Rubylee Wright supported their sophomore teammate by adding 14 and 11 respectively.

What’s next

On Tuesday the Hoyas will take on the fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins, who defeated St. Francis 70-48 in the first round on Sunday.  Georgetown beat Maryland earlier in the season 53-45 at home, but this time the game will be played at the Comcast Center in College Park. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m

Well, that was quick. The Hoyas bowed out of The Big East Tournament in the second round today, losing to UConn 79-62. It was the team’s fourth straight loss after Chris Wright went down with a broken hand. After making an amazing run to the finals last year, Georgetown will head back to D.C. early and begin preparing for the NCAA Tournament. The team will have some time to learn from their early New York exit and adjust before the Big Dance.

Chris Wright

It can’t be stressed enough how important Wright is to Georgetown’s success. His presence on the court makes everyone better, and without him the Hoyas not only suffer offensively, but defensively as well. Today, the squad’s offense was stagnant, as they only had six assists (three from big man Nate Lubick), compared to 16 turnovers. Wright himself averages 5.4 assists per game. His absence was also part of the reason Georgetown shot only 22.7% from downtown. Without Wright, the team needs to shoot well from behind the arc to win, but they need Wright to create those open looks.

“He gets everybody open, he finds everybody and he can also create for himself,” Jason Clark said of the injured point guard.

Wright is arguably the team’s best defensive player as well and without him guarding Kemba Walker, the Huskies star player had his way with the Hoyas. Wright wouldn’t have been able to stop him, but containing him enough would have helped his teammates focus more on their other assignments.

Big Man Who?

The only thing worse than having one big man in foul trouble is having two big men in foul trouble. The Hoyas were greatly maligned because of their lack of inside game. Both Julian Vaughn and Nate Lubick got into early foul trouble and never had a chance to get in a groove. Both of them spent much of the second half on the bench, each tallying four fouls less than eight minutes into the second half. Vaughn finished with zero points in one of his worst games ever, and Lubick didn’t do much better, contributing only four points. Henry Sims couldn’t provide any relief off the bench either.

“[Vaughn and Sims] were not playing well so we went with a different lineup,” John Thompson III said. “Does that affect things? Yes. But they were not producing. You have to produce.”

The Hoyas were outscored in the paint 38-26, most of which were Freeman and Clark. The duo accounted for 43 of the team’s 62 total points.

What’s Next

The Hoyas will have time to improve, but there will also be a lot of waiting. They will have to wait to see what seed the NCAA selection committee will give them. They will also have to wait on Chris Wright.

“We are absolutely anticipating that,” JTIII said in regards to Wright being available for the NCAA Tournament.

Besides the prospect of Wright rejoining the team, the Hoyas can take solace in the fact that they now have plenty of time to prepare for the Big Dance.
“Having a break here could be beneficial as we get ready to go to the next part,” JTIII said.

On Senior Day at the Verizon Center and in what was arguably the biggest game of the season, the Hoyas were without their most important player. With guard Chris Wright watching from the bench because of a broken hand, Georgetown fell to Syracuse 58-51. With their second straight loss, the Hoyas are now 10-7 in the Big East and sit in eighth place in the conference.

Turnovers

This was the most telling stat of the game. The Hoyas committed 16 turnovers, while the Orange had only nine. Syracuse made Georgetown pay for their mistakes too, scoring 21 of their 58 points off of miscues. With Wright out, Jason Clark struggled to replace the senior’s production from the point, by turning the ball over five times while only dishing out one assist. Earlier in the month, Wright was the key to breaking down Syracuse’s vaunted two-three zone in a win, and today no other Hoya possessed the ability to attack the zone quite like Wright. Read the rest of this entry »

The No. 13 Hoyas won their sixth straight game this afternoon against Providence to move to 7-4 in the Big East. Georgetown led by a comfortable margin for most of the game, but the Friars climbed back in the final eight minutes and had a chance to win on the final possession. It has been said many times before, but it bears repeating: every win in the Big East this year is important, even against a bottom-dweller like Providence.

While students hit the books during finals, the Hoyas hit their shots on Saturday, as they passed an afternoon test against Loyola Maryland with flying colors. Behind an offensive masterpiece in the first half—the Hoyas shot 78.3% from the field—the reserves held down the fort in the second half as Georgetown crushed the Greyhounds, 99-75.

It was the first game for the team in six days, and Head Coach John Thompson III, nervous about the long layoff, had nothing to worry about because the Hoyas came out hungry.

“We got a good win,” senior point guard Chris Wright said. “Guys were just excited to play. We were making good reads and being efficient on offense. We were getting the stops on defense.”

Wright, who played a season-low 20 minutes, was productive, scoring eleven points while dishing out three assists. The other starting guards, senior Austin Freeman and junior Jason Clark, played 22 and 18 minutes respectively. The veterans made their minutes count nonetheless, as their efficiency in the first half put the game out of reach.

Read the rest of this entry »