Hoyas use big first half to take down La Salle

Boy, did Georgetown need that.

The Hoyas took care of Atlantic 10 opponent La Salle, on Sunday afternoon at the Jamaica Classic to come away from the weekend in the Caribbean with a 1-1 record.

The 69-62 final score could have and probably should have been much more convincing. Georgetown jumped on the Explorers in the opening minutes, leading 18-3 just over seven minutes into the game, en route to building a 41-21 halftime lead.

In the second half, however, La Salle outscored the Hoyas 41-28 and had the game tied at 62 with 2:14 to play. From there, the Georgetown defense finally locked down to avoid catastrophe, going the rest of the way without allowing a point.

“We made it a lot tougher than we wanted it to be in the second half,” Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said following the win. “But we were able to find a way to win.”

Georgetown was led offensively by Qudus Wahab, who scored 23 points and was named to the all-tournament team following the performance.

The only other Hoya in double-figures was Brandon Murray, who finished with 16 points. Akok Akok stuffed the stat sheet, as he normally does, finishing with just 4 points but adding 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and a steal.

One bright spot for Georgetown in Jamaica was its free throw shooting. The Hoyas took 40 free throws in the two games in Jamaica and knocked down 35 of them. Shooting like that from the charity stripe will keep the Hoyas in games this season.

On the flipside, the last three games have raised several red flags for Georgetown. In the second half over the past three games against Northwestern, Loyola Marymount and La Salle, the Hoyas have been outscored by 56 points combined. That’s an average of nearly 19 points per second half.

Georgetown does not seem to be adjusting well in the halftime locker room or in the second half against increased competition. Granted, it’s still early but that is a very troubling sign.

There’s a long way to go in 2022-23, but the Hoyas have a lot of work to do before they jump into Big East play on December 16 against Xavier.

Can’t afford a slip up this week against American on Wednesday or UMBC on Saturday.