Utah State to take on Georgetown
The Aggies (5-1) are heading to Washington, D.C to take on the No. 16 Georgetown Hoyas (7-0-) this Saturday.
Georgetown is coming into the game off a big win, beating No. 9 Missouri in overtime 111-102 Tuesday.
To come out ahead in this match-up, the Aggies simply need to out-shoot, and therefore outscore the Hoyas.
Out-shoot, Outscore
One key factor in the game Georgetown plays is that they are not afraid to take shots. If they are open (or not), they shoot the ball and sometimes it will go in.
This season, the Hoyas have taken 407 shots from the field, 207 of which have gone in the basket. The Aggies on the other hand, have made 132-of-290. This makes for very comparable percentages between the two teams. The difference is just the willingness to take a risk and take a shot when there is one.
Free throw shots have been the same way. The two teams are neck-and-neck in those numbers, with the Aggies shooting 70.4 percent and the Hoyas 71 percent.
Taking shots leads to making points. You need the most points to win. Georgetown is undefeated and ranked in the national polls. They’ve done this by taking shots and making points.
The Man to Watch
If there is one Georgetown player to especially keep an eye on, it would be senior guard Austin Freeman.
Freeman is a leader among the Hoyas in shooting, making 59.6 percent of the field goal shots he has taken. Percentage-wise, he is second on the team in 3-point shots, having made 56.8 percent next to sophomore guard Vee Sanford who is at 66.7 percent. The difference is, Freeman has taken 44 shots while Sanford had taken 9.
Again, it’s all in the numbers here.
On the Aggie side of things, senior forward Tai Wesley is leading the team in shots from the field at 65.4 percent, making 34-of-52. Freeman has made 53-of-89.
Senior guard Brian Green is the only clear leader in USU 3-point shots, making 46.9 percent of the shots he’s taken, and always shooting better on the road.
The Moral of the Story
The Aggies need to take shots and they need to go in.
Overall, the two teams are fairly comparable. Last season, Georgetown finished with a 23-11 record after losing to Ohio University in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Utah State ended the 2009-10 season with a first-round loss to Texas A&M, finishing the season at 27-8.
Head coach Stew Morrill has not brought out many surprises so far this season. He has kept the playbook tightly closed and hasn’t changed things up. It will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve for Saturday.
The game will be aired on ESPNU at 10 a.m. MST. The game will be shown on campus in the TSC Ballroom, followed by the football game at Boise State.
– megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu