Last week, I was cruising through the Excel Spreadsheet of college games in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington to cover. This is the most important document in the Making the Cut folder. I can’t take credit for it. It was provided by Patrick Stevens. You can find Stevens on Twitter at @D1course. Stevens is one of the most knowledgeable cats when it comes to college athletics. As many games as I try to cover, it pails in comparison to Stevens.
While going through the calendar it hit me. In a span of 24 hours, I could cover Maryland, Georgetown, George Washington, and the Capital City Go-Go. Yeah… Yeah… Yeah… the Go-Go is an NBA G-League team not a college team but it would be a great way to end the hustle.
Friday Night: Indiana at Maryland
Is there a hotter team in the Big Ten than Maryland? Hardly anyone saw this coming. The Terps are one of the top teams in the conference. Right up there with everyone except Michigan. They are accomplishing this with the 5th youngest team in the conference. Bruno Fernando is as traditional of a post player as you’re going to see in today’s college basketball environment. Anthony Cowan provides stability at point guard. Add in one of Turgeon’s best recruiting classes and they had plenty of fire power to deal with Indiana and their candy stripes.
After falling behind 9-0 the Terps battled back. If there’s anything you can say about this team, is they are resilient. When they’ve been behind there hasn’t been a lot of head hanging. Perhaps the biggest play of the first half was when Indiana’s Justin Smith picked up his third foul. The Terps went to work on the over-matched. The lead would drop to 5 before a three by Aljami Durham at the buzzer pushed it to eight but by then Maryland had the confidence that they needed.
After the Hoosiers scored the first basket of the half to go up 10, the Terps would score the next 16 points. For the most part, the game was over. The Terps would get up by as much as 10 and won by 3 after Indiana’s Devonte Green made a meaningless three pointer at the buzzer.
Once again, the Terps were led by their two veterans. Yes, I’m counting sophomore, Bruno Fernando, as a veteran in today’s college basketball landscape. Fernando had 25 and 12 while junior, Anthony Cowan, had 24 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
Maryland 78 Indiana 75
Leaving College Park and getting on the beltway, even that time of night is always tough. There’s construction…. cars driving too fast… cars driving too slow. It’s a nightmare but there was no rest for the weary. It was time to get some sleep and then prepare to get to Georgetown for a noon tip against Providence.
Saturday at Noon: Providence at Georgetown
As I rolled up to Cap One I was still feeling a wee bit tired after the long night before.
Georgetown and Providence was a battle of two teams that desperately needed a win. At the time, the Hoyas were on a two game losing streak. They had lost in overtime to St John’s and a road loss to Xavier. In both games, the Hoyas led by double digits. In the St. John’s game the Hoyas were up five with 52 seconds left. The Friars were still winless in conference play.
Plus it was the “return of the Mac”. Cheesie… I know. Mac McClung had been out with an ankle injury and finally returned for his first Big East Conference game. It’s been years since a single player united the entire Georgetown fan base. You could argue that Allen Iverson was the last Hoya this beloved.
Unlike the previous two games, it was Georgetown’s opponent that raced out to a double digit lead. With 4:14 left, Providence had taken an 11 point after a dunk by local product, Nate Watson (O’Connell). It was the last basket for the Friars in the first half.
Kaleb Johnson, yes, Kaleb Johnson spurred the Hoyas on. His constant hustle and ability to keep plays alive ignited the team. Georgetown would finish the half on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to two by the intermission.
The second half has become what we’ve accepted as Georgtownian. It was close. Back and forth. There were really good plays. There were plays that made you say “what in the world”. And, no, I don’t mean that in a good way.
But, as mentioned, McClung was back and when most thought all was lost for the Hoyas the freshman put on his cape. Down three everyone in the arena thought Providence would foul. They didn’t and McClung would bank in a three at the buzzer. Full disclosure. After the game, Providence coach Ed Cooley said they were supposed to foul.
As if that wasn’t enough. At the end of the first overtime, once again Georgetown was down by three. Once again, they tied it up. This time it was James Akinjo who was the hero. His three pointer with 3 seconds left would propel this game into a second overtime and the though crept in my head… am I going to get to George Washington in time?
At this point, everyone in the arena thought Providence had this game won twice. Heck, Cooley thought his squad had the game won twice. Unfortunately for him, the Friars would have to try and win it a third time.
Sidenote: For the people who live in the DC area, you know that Cap One is only a few minutes from Smith Center. Well, the “few” depends on how many cars and tourists are on the road.
Georgetown decided to stop this nonsense in the second overtime. Akinjo’s jumper with 3:32 left in the game gave Georgetown a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. They would push the lead up to to five and eventually won by six. Jessie Govan would have 33 and 14 while Akinjo chipped in with 20 points and 9 assists.
Georgetown 96 Providence 90 (2OT)
After both pressers and looking at my watch and I knew it was going to be tight. But, what I would find out is the extent of the Government Shutdown. There aren’t a lot of tourists down by the Washington Monument. The only thing holding me back would be drivers who aren’t used to commuting in DC. Yeah, for those who don’t know, there are plenty of those people.
I pull up at Smith Center. Now, the Smith Center doesn’t have parking at the arena. You have to park in the a garage but, hey, it’s Saturday maybe I can park on the street. DC is the home of the most confusing parking signs. It helps them confuse the driver so much, they inevitably violate one of the three to four conflicting signs and get a ticket.
I’m feeling lucky though so I park at a meter. It says I can only get two hours up to 6pm. After 6pm the max amount of time rises. Now… this causes a dilemma. I know in my heart of hearts there’s no way the GW game is going to be completed along with interviews in a mere two hour span. Well, really 1:40 minute span because I got down there with 20 minutes to spare.
Hell, I’m rolling the dice. I max out at 2 hours and keep my fingers crossed as I walk to the arena.
Saturday at 4 pm: Richmond at George Washington
Atlantic 10 basketball is a guilty pleasure and the DC area has plenty of that. George Washington and George Mason are right here in the DMV. 95 south you’ll find Richmond and VCU. 95 north and you’ll find the Philadelphia schools. With Maryland out of the ACC and Georgetown the only Big East school in the area, how can the Atlantic 10 not be the official conference of the DMV? Heck, they should claim it like UCF claimed a National Championship!
But I digress. This was a rough from the start for the Colonials. Richmond was moving the ball and was getting open shots against man, 3-2, heck they would’ve hit three’s from Valley Forge. Ok… that was bad and a bit forced but you get my drift.
But, with all that being said, the Colonials found themselves only down by three at halftime… then the flood gates opened.
By the under 12 timeout, the lead was 12. Is that insurmountable? Of course not but anyone who has been around basketball as long as I have, you know if George Washington doesn’t make a move at that moment, it could get worse. It got worse. In a shade under 6 minutes, the lead ballooned to 19 points and it was all over but the shouting.
The Colonials would never get back into the game and would eventually lose by 20.
Richmond 76 George Washington 56
Next stop would be the NBA G-League but first, I need to rush to the car and make sure I didn’t get a ticket. SCORE!!! No ticket. Now, lets head down to the Entertainment and Sports Arena!
Now, I’m not going to lie, I’m starting to run out of steam. It’s cold. It’s snowing. They’re telling everyone that they should be on road only if it is necessary. I deemed capping off this 24 hours of basketball with the G-League as necessary. Lets roll!
Saturday at 7 pm: Long Island Nets at Capital City Go-Go
Another close call. I get into my media seat with about 7 minutes to spare. That’s enough time to see that I’m on my own for dinner since the food in the Media Room had been pillaged. Welp.
I’m glad to see that the Go-Go are stacked with Troy Brown Jr. (Washington Wizards first round pick), Devin Robinson (two-way) and Jordan McRae (two-way). Wait… why does Long Island only have seven players? Oh. Brooklyn grabbed a handful of players prior to the game.
I was looking forward to seeing Theo Pinson play. No Theo. I’m heartbroken. So heartbroken, I text my man and tell him that Pinson wasn’t there. I don’t think he was as crushed as I was.
The Go-Go came into the game with a five game winning streak. That’s pretty impressive when you see how much time this team has spent on the road over the last month or so.
This shaped up as your typical back and forth G-League game. Even more than the NBA, the G-League seems to be a game of runs.
By the way, Long Island’s coach has some sort of tablet on the sideline. Is he drawing plays on that thing? Where’s the typical basketball board? Am I behind the times? Yeah… fatigue is setting in. I’m actually asking these questions out loud.
I quickly text a good friend who so happens to be a basketball coach. I tell him that the Nets head coach has a tablet on the sideline and told him he had to do that same. “That tablet would be flying” was his response. Yeah. That wasn’t my best idea.
As for the game itself, Chris Chiozza was the star. He had 24 points in the second half, 30 for the game (career high).
There was also a dust up of epic proportions that involved Devin Robinson and Kamari Murphy. Both players were tossed out. After the game I asked Go-Go head coach Jarell Christian what happened. He indicated that he didn’t see much of it. Good answer coach. :o)
The Go-Go would ride Chiozza’s career night to their sixth straight victory.
Capital City 114 Long Island 106
And just like that it was over. Four games, 24 hours.
Basketball in the DMV is a passion. It’s extremely underrated when compared to places like New York City but the cats in the city know. The place is full of good basketball and great fans.
Hope to see you out there.
Photos were courtesy of Ron Bailey
Marcus “Mook” Washington – Catch me on Twitter and Instagram at mtcwithmook. You can get even more by going to the Making The Cut With Mook YouTube Channel and subscribing.
