After nearly a weeklong break as exams begin to ramp up, Georgetown will return to the court on Saturday to take on Saint Peter’s in a rare on-campus game for the Hoyas at McDonough Arena.
Georgetown (6-3), which has lost three of four after starting 5-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season, usually hosts its games downtown at Capital One Arena — home to both the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.
McDonough Arena, which has hosted just two Georgetown men’s basketball games over the last three seasons, has seen its capacity shrink over the years and is now set at approximately 2,000, per a Georgetown spokesperson.
Hoyas coach Ed Cooley came into the season with NCAA Tournament hopes in Year 3, and on Thursday he spoke about how his team must approach the end of the nonconference schedule.
“We’re coming off a loss,” Cooley began to explain when asked about the possibility of his team looking past a mid-major foe as Big East play looms.
“We have to improve. This is ‘one game at a time’ mentality, we’re not looking past anybody. We’re not good enough to do that. Maybe the Oklahoma (City) Thunder can, Georgetown basketball’s not at that point.”
A bright spot for the Hoyas in their most recent 81-61 loss at now-No. 14 North Carolina was the emergence of Baylor transfer Langston Love.
Love, who joined Georgetown with the reputation as a reliable shooter, scored a season-high 10 points and has made three of his last six 3-pointers on a Hoyas team that ranks last in the conference in both makes (59) and percentage (29.4) from deep.
Saint Peter’s (4-4) was picked 11th out of 13 teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference but is off to a 2-0 start in the league behind strong backcourt play from veteran Brent Bland (15.8 ppg) and newcomer TJ Robinson (12.5 ppg). Bland’s previous best scoring average came two seasons ago when he averaged 5.1 points per game.
The Peacocks, who are third in the country in free throw percentage (81.1), lost their season opener to Seton Hall and last beat a team from a power conference during their magical 2022 NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight.
