1st Half Summary: Georgetown:46 Duke:33
At the end of the 1st half, Georgetown leads Duke 46-33. This 13-point lead shows what an extremely productive first-half for the Georgetown Hoyas. The key to the game so far has been Georgetown's defense. They are forcing turnovers, but more importantly, the Hoyas are capitalizing off of these turnovers. Despite being known as a patient team, running the Princeton offense, the Hoyas have run in transition and finished at the rim. Duke has made only 9-27 shots from the field in the first half; the Hoyas aggressive defense has much to do with that.
Offensively, Georgetown has been able to get whatever it wants on the court- lay-ups in transition or open three-point shots. In the half-court setting, Duke is crashing down on Greg Monroe in the post and Monroe is making them pay with his interior passing. Although he only has two assists in the half, he has another pass that led to a teammate getting to the foul line and another that led to a dribble-drive for Chris Wright for a pull-up. Near the end of the first half, Georgetown made 10 consecutive shots. While shortly-there-after, Duke went cold and went six straight possessions without scoring a point.
Georgetown has been very efficient on the offensive end. They hit 17-of-22 shots (a scoring 77.3% from the field), including 5-for-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line.
Keys to the second-half: Georgetown rarely struggled in the first half, but there were two or three possessions where Chris Wright simply tried to do too much. Whether it was over-dribbling on the perimeter, taking his team out of their offensive rhythm or two bad passes that led to turnovers, he need to stay composed.
Duke must continue to get to the foul line. As a team, they are shooting 77% on the season and are 11-13 in the first half. On quite a few occasions, the Duke players are attacking Austin Freeman on defense. They are taking advantage of his slow foot speed and lateral quickness, but have been unable to capitalize when they get open. To cut this lead down, they need to finish their shots. Duke's trio of Singler, Scheyer and Nolan Smith collectively average 53 points per game on the season and in the first-half, they have combined for 23 points. It looks like one of their post players, whether its Miles Plumlee or Lance Thomas, someone is going to need to step-up for the Blue Devils.
By Corey Ruff - President - 1-30-10
