Advertisement

Hoyas 'win' boxscore eyesore 37-36

 
Rebounds were plentiful for the Vols’ Jarnell Stokes and the Hoyas’ Mikael Hopkins.
Rebounds were plentiful for the Vols’ Jarnell Stokes and the Hoyas’ Mikael Hopkins.
Published Dec. 1, 2012

WASHINGTON — John Thompson III kept saying that he had never been a part of a game like the one he saw Friday. Then he finally thought of one.

"I think I was 8," the Georgetown coach said. "Playing with St. Anthony's. The game ended 13-11."

"I had 10," he added with a chuckle. "And we won that game, too."

It's easier to laugh about it when you win, but there was no sugarcoating it: The No. 20 Hoyas' 37-36 win over Tennessee in the SEC/Big East Challenge was an offensive display of offensive basketball, and the coach knew it.

"If you just look at the numbers and the stat sheet and say we won the game — before the game, I'd say you're crazy," Thompson said. "I'd think it's virtually impossible."

It was Georgetown's worst scoring tally of the shot clock era, its lowest total since a 37-36 win over Southern Methodist in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1985. It was Tennessee's second-lowest since the shot clock went into effect in the 1985-86 season, better only than in a 43-35 loss to Auburn in 1997.

Tennessee also had the humility of being outscored by its 5-7 football team, which averaged 36.2 points this season.

It was so bad even the free throws weren't falling. The teams combined to make just 7 of 20. The field-goal shooting was just as horrid, with the Vols hitting 33 percent and the Hoyas 36 percent. Georgetown's Mikael Hopkins missed three easy lay-ins and four free throws in the first 20 minutes.

No player scored in double figures for either team. It was hard to believe it was the same Georgetown (5-1) that had a great stretch last week to move into the Top 25, beating then-No. 11 UCLA and losing in overtime to top-ranked Indiana on back-to-back nights.

Neither team looked like a winner Friday. No one scored in the final four minutes. The winning basket — though no one could have imagined it at the time — was Markel Starks' jumper with 4:10 to play.

No. 6 Syracuse 91, Ark. 82: James Southerland scored a career-high 35, including a career-best 9-for-13 on 3-pointers, for the visiting Orange (5-0).

No. 10 Kansas 84, Oregon St. 78: Ben McLemore scored 21, Travis Releford added 20 and the host Jayhawks (6-1) held off repeated rallies by the Beavers.

Women

No. 1 Stanford 87, UC Davis, 38: Chiney Ogwumike had a career-high-tying 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the visiting Cardinal (7-0).

No. 10 Cal 63, Old Dom. 47: Layushia Clarendon scored 15 and the Golden Bears (6-0) survived a scare in a sloppy road debut. California won despite committing 25 turnovers and missing 16 of 32 free throws.

No. 13 Texas 79, Texas A&M-CC 30: Nneka Enemkpali tied a school record with her fifth consecutive double double as the host Longhorns (5-0) stifled winless Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Enemkpali had 11 points and 18 rebounds.