Georgetown Beats Oregon 65-61 at Maui Jim Maui Invitational

Georgetown defeated Oregon 65-61 in Game 2 of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational basketball tournament, taking place today Nov. 21 through Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Lahaina Civic Center. 

Coach John Thompson III of Georgetown opened the post game press conference saying, “We needed that. That’s my opening statement.”

In the second half, Oregon pulled ahead with about 11 minutes left to play. Fellow coach Rodney Pryor described the Hoya’s focus as Georgetown came back, scoring seven in a row.

“In the first half to close on that run we were doing great on the defensive end. We were grabbing defensive rebounds, allowing us to get out the break. I think in the second half they came out and threw some blows. We didn’t get early stops that we needed and they got back into the game. But then we were able to take a deep breath, get some stops and get some baskets,” said Pryor.

“Coming into that timeout we had to take a deep breath. I think we were a little sped up. We have some good looks early that didn’t fall, and I think it withered our intensity on defense. But then once we got to take a deep breath, settle in, we realized that we just need to get stops and get good looks on offense,” he said.

Oregon Ducks Coach Dana Altman said, “We didn’t play good basketball. When you look at the stats, it’s a fundamental game and we didn’t shoot free throws well. We were 11-for-20, and I know a couple of those were front-ends, one-and-ones. We had 17 turnovers which is hard to overcome. We took some quick, bad 3s to start the game.”

“So fundamentally,” he said, “we are not very sound and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Altman said he did like the effort on the comeback though.  “I thought we made some plays for each other. We came back all the way and took the lead.  But then, I think, on the next four or five possessions, we had three turnovers and two front ends of one-and-ones that we missed. So as great a comeback as it was we weren’t tough enough to finish it.”

Oregon faces Tennessee in Game 5 at 8:30 a.m. HST tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016; and Georgetown faces Wisconsin in Game 7 at 3 p.m. HST tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016.

The event this year features host Chaminade, *No. 18 UConn, Georgetown, No. 6-ranked North Carolina, Oklahoma State, No. 5 Oregon, Tennessee and No. 9 Wisconsin.

The 2016 field has combined for 14 national championships, including six squads that have won at least one NCAA title, 40 Final Four appearances and 198 NCAA Tournament berths.

Last year’s event attracted more than 23,000 people and generated an estimated $17.2 million in visitor spending for the island of Maui. Since its inception in 1984, the tournament has contributed more than $205 million to the local island economy.