MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The thought of Patrick Ewing on a Georgetown sideline conjures up memories of a game that may no longer be in style.
It was a power game, where blocked shots and rebounds were just as much highlights as fast breaks.
Ewing will likely be sporting a suit and tie today as the Hoyas head coach rather than his old No. 33 jersey, working in a style of play with Georgetown (1-1) unlike what he experienced in the 1980s.
“They’re pretty much perimeter oriented,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said, as the 11th-ranked Mountaineers prepared to travel to Georgetown for Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. tip-off in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. “I think that’s seemingly the wave of the future is one big and four perimeter guys.”
Georgetown’s perimeter play is senior-dominated and led by guard Jahvon Blair, who averages 20 points per game, but is shooting just 37.8% from the field and is only 4 of 19 from 3-point range.
Georgetown’s leading 3-point shooters are seniors Jamorko Picket and Donald Carey, who each have five makes from behind the arc.
The Hoyas, who are coming off a 78-71 loss against Navy, do have sophomore Qudus Wahab (6-foot-11, 237 pounds) in the middle and he’s averaging 14 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, but he’s not the dominant fixture in the middle Ewing once was.
“You know what everybody learns when they take the uniform off and go sit in the first chair?” Huggins said. “You have to try and win. You can’t worry about positions or whatever. You’ve got to put the best five guys out there who give you the best chance to win.”
What Ewing will find with the Mountaineers (3-1) is maybe a little more of that traditional inside power game with WVU’s Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe.
That combination has been a mixed bag of results so far.
While Culver is putting together his best season — “Derek has been, I haven’t seen everybody, but I’ve got to think he’s one of the better players in our league if not the best player,” Huggins said. — Tshiebwe has found himself dealing mostly with foul trouble through the first four games.
The WVU duo is combining for 25.1 points and 20.1 rebounds per game.
“We’re going to play two bigs,” Huggins said. “If we’re going to score the ball, I think that’s what we got to do.
“When you’ve got bigs like we have, you have to use them. Derek is averaging a double-double and Oscar is now starting to get back to being the Oscar we saw a year ago. That’s a heck of an advantage for us.”
Notes
** This is the second season of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The Mountaineers traveled to Madison Square Garden last season and fell to St. John’s, 70-68.
** WVU spent 17 seasons as a Big East member before joining the Big 12, in 2012.
** The game will be played at McDonough Arena, which is Georgetown’s on-campus site. It seats 2,500, but no fans will be in attendance. WVU has played in the arena once, a 77-65 loss to the Hoyas in the 2014 NIT.
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