By: Shane McCarthy
The Jimmy V Classic has been a yearly staple in New York
City since 1995. Each year it consists
of two games played in a double header format, almost always consisting of four
upper-echelon teams. It’s great
basketball for a great cause.
Texas 41, Georgetown
64: The Hoyas were coming off one of the ugliest games in the history of
the sport, a 37-36 victory over Tennessee on Friday night. While the same stingy defense showed up
again, thankfully their skunk of an offense didn’t. Texas
has displayed its struggles on the offensive end since the start of the season,
and Georgetown ended up being an awful matchup for them (it took the Longhorns
over four minutes to score their first points).
The Hoyas forced a whopping 21 turnovers, many of which led to uncontested
easy baskets in transition.
In the end Georgetown only surrendered an impressive 41
points, but it was the 64 they scored on the offensive end that was
welcomed. Three players finished in
double figures, led by Otto Porter who had 14. Porter hit many difficult shots, namely
multiple turnaround fade-aways that were impossible to defend. He’s clearly a great player, but it’s
Georgetown’s disciplined nature on both ends of the floor that makes this team
as good as they are. I’d only expect
this team to get better.
Connecticut 65, NC
State 69: The story for UConn all
year is going to be their lack of size. Their guard play is outstanding. You can’t ask for much more in the back court than Shabazz
Napier, Ryan Boatright and Omar Calhoun.
Napier should probably shoot more, while Boatright needs to play a bit
smarter, but this trio isn’t the problem.
The Huskies have no inside presence and will consistently get
out-muscled down low against teams with formidable big men.
That’s what NC State did on Tuesday night. They pounded the ball down low from the very
start of the game, and even though it was close throughout, it paid off at the
end. C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell
finished with double doubles for the Wolfpack as they relentlessly got the ball
into the paint for easy buckets or tip-ins.
While NC State never enjoyed a large lead, they maintained their slim
advantage down the stretch while UConn went cold and got sloppy. UConn lead 20-9 early making five three
pointers during that run, but it proved unsustainable on this night. The Huskies will win a fair share of games
this year, but if they are going to beat high-level competition it will be because of lights-out shooting.
Twitter: @shane_t_mac
