While Hoya fans are probably still hung up on Georgetown’s most impressive win of the season over Louisville, the Blue and Gray (14-4, 4-3 Big East) will look to keep rolling against Seton Hall (13-7, 2-5 Big East) on Wednesday night in a potential trap game.  The Louisville win capped off a week in which the Hoyas also handily trounced then no. 24 Notre Dame 63-47 in South Bend.

On Saturday, the Blue and Gray pulled off a 53-51 upset of then no. 5 Louisville on the back of 17-point performances from junior guard Markel Starks and sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr.  Starks climbed out of his recent slump as he shot 43.8% and reached double-digits for the first time in three games.  With 12 rebounds in the contest, Porter Jr. posted his fourth double-double of the season and has averaged 19.2 points per game since sophomore forward Greg Whittington was ruled ineligible to play. Without Whittington in the line-up, the Hoyas are now 4-1.

Although Georgetown survived to defeat the Cardinals, the Hoya offense has remained a concern. Sophomore forward Aaron Bowen’s acrobatic shot was Georgetown’s only field goal in the final 4:17 minutes of the game.  The Blue and Gray essentially relied on the two-man offense of Starks and Porter Jr.

Key to Georgetown’s victory was a gritty defensive effort.  The Cardinals failed to score a field goal in the final four minutes of the game.  Senior guard and national player of the year candidate Peyton Siva was held scoreless and forward Chane Behanan only scored seven points.

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Seven days after the sky was falling in a loss to South Florida, the Georgetown Hoyas (14-4, 4-3 Big East) have their swagger back. Behind virtuoso performances from Otto Porter Jr. and Markel Starks, they put away No. 5 Louisville (16-4, 4-3 Big East) 53-51 in a thriller at the Verizon Center this afternoon.

Despite the standout efforts from their usual stars, it was the less-heralded junior Aaron Bowen who saved the game for Georgetown. With 3:38 remaining in the game, Bowen tipped in a missed D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera layup with an acrobatic, behind-the-back finish.

I was almost towards half court, I have never seen anything like it,” Starks said of the play. “I tell him he’s one of the most athletic people on this planet. When the shot went up, he just came out of nowhere, and it was unbelievable.”

“Literally, the dead ball before his basket, he says ‘I’m going to get one [putback] coach, I’m going to get one’ and then he goes out and does it. That’s pretty good,” added Head Coach John Thompson III.

For the Hoyas, it marked the go-ahead basket in a seesaw affair. For Bowen, it marked his only points, although the junior has seen increased playing time since sophomore Greg Whittington was declared academically ineligible.

Porter, who contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds, also came up clutch for Georgetown with three timely rebounds in the final seconds. With the final rebound, he was fouled with two seconds left. After missing the second free throw, Louisville’s Russ Smith threw up a desperation heave at the buzzer – the miss sent the Hoyas to their second straight win, sending the crowd of 17,474 into a frenzy.

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While storms brewed around the D.C. area on Sunday, a few Hoyas decided to bring some thunder of their own into McDonough during Kenner Summer League scrimmages.

With 18 points to his name, junior guard Jason Clark led Team Takeover to a blowout in the early game, but that’s not to say it wasn’t entertaining. Team Takeover amused the crowd during warm-ups with an impromptu dunk exhibition, and again when the game devolved into a series of uncontested jams. (The Kenner League: Where six footers repeatedly get open dunks in a set offense.)

In the late game, Austin Freeman was noticably absent. (Rumor has it that he spent his weekend playing in Las Vegas.) However, it gave the Tombs’ underclassmen a rare chance to shine. And they did—mostly.

To date, Hollis Thompson has yet to stand out in Kenner League play. And I’ve been a nervous wreck because of it, mostly thanks to the statistical minds at Hoya Prospectus, but also because his beautiful left-handed take against Ohio was the single positive memory that I took into the off-season.

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The  annual Kenner Summer League is an early opportunity to see Georgetown basketball. Today, we check in with some of the team’s lesser known players (except for Jerrelle Benimon, who didn’t play on Saturday).

Julian Vaughn

As the tallest and strongest player in his game on Saturday, Vaughn succeeded around the basket. But, don’t expect Vaughn to play defense for 40 minutes a night—he disappeared for portions of the scrimmage, despite finishing with a line of 14 points, eight rebounds, an assist, and a steal. The following day, he kept up his strong inside game by dominating the boards and finishing with some surprisingly-polished post moves.

Henry Sims

Oh, Henry. Although he was a lauded recruit, Sims is still an indecipherable mixed bag. He has the ability to hit mid-range jumpers, has the best length of any Hoya, and seems to have better hands this summer than in seasons past … but, he gives up too much ground while defending his man in the paint.

One sequence from Sunday summed up Sims’s weekend: he blocked a shot, gathered the rebound, turned the ball over on an ill-advised pass, and then he held his ground on a 3-1 break, blocking the shot against the rim. He still needs to work on his post moves, but it was good to see Sims play confidently.

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