Top Ranked Duke Takes On Georgetown For The 2K Empire Classic Championship
Top ranked Duke and Georgetown who is unranked have advanced to the 2K Empire Classic Championship.
On Friday Duke out of the Atlantic Coast Conference will take on Georgetown who is a member of the Big East for the 2K Empire Classic Championship.
Duke comes into the game with a record of 5-0 while Georgetown comes into the game with a record of 4-1.
Have Duke and Georgetown ever met on the hardwood? The answer is yes.
They last met during the 2015 season during the 2K Empire Classic where Grayson Allen who is now a member of the Memphis Grizzles in the NBA led the way.
Grayson Allen scored a career-high 32 points, and the Blue Devils beat Georgetown 86-84 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Derryck Thornton had 14 points and Matt Jones scored 11 for the Blue Devils (4-1), who trailed by five at halftime. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2015/11/22/210522090.aspx
Allen bounced back nicely after he scored six points on 2-for-11 shooting in Tuesday night's 74-63 loss to the second-ranked Wildcats.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2015/11/22/210522090.aspx
The sophomore came off the bench and set a career high with 30 points in Friday night's win over VCU and then returned to the starting lineup against the Hoyas and went 9 for 12 from the field in his fourth game with at least 25 points.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2015/11/22/210522090.aspx
"I think more than prove a point, he wanted to show up," Duke forward Amile Jefferson said. "I think the performance he had this weekend was unbelievable. We're not in this game tonight without Grayson. He kept us afloat and he's been amazing."“according to https://goduke.com/news/2015/11/22/210522090.aspx
Allen went 5 for 6 from 3-point range and 9 for 9 at the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2015/11/22/210522090.aspx
As for how Duke got to the 2K Empire Classic Championship,
On November 15th it was sophomore point guard Tre Jones who scored 31 points to lead Duke to a win over Georgia State in the 2K Champions Classic in Durham.
This time it was freshman Vernon Carey Jr. leading Duke who is now the top ranked team in the country to a win to a win over California with 31 points of his own. and 12 rebounds in the 2K Classic. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-careys-31-carries-no-1-duke-past-cal-87-52.aspx
Vernon Carey Jr. wasn’t the only player to get in on the action though for Duke. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-careys-31-carries-no-1-duke-past-cal-87-52.aspx
Jack White and Tre Jones hit consecutive 3s in the first half to help stretch a nine-point lead to 19 at halftime, and the Blue Devils never looked back. Duke fans filled the Garden, the program's home in the Northeast. The Blue Devils opened the season here with a win over Kansas and they beat Cal for their 37th career win at MSG.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-careys-31-carries-no-1-duke-past-cal-87-52.aspx
The play of the game for Duke came on Alex O'Connell's driving, one-handed dunk down the lane in the second half that woke up the sleepy crowd. That made it 57-32 and the cheers continued as the dunk was replayed heading into a timeout. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-careys-31-carries-no-1-duke-past-cal-87-52.aspx
As for how Georgetown got to the 2K Empire Classic, they defeated Texas.
The Georgetown University men's basketball team outscored No. 22 Texas 45-24 in the second half, en route to an 82-66 victory over the Longhorns at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The game was the first semifinal of the 2K Empire Classic. With the win, Georgetown improves to 4-1 on the season and deals the Longhorns their first loss to slip to 4-1. “according to https://guhoyas.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-big-second-half-pushes-hoyas-past-no-22-texas-82-66.aspx
The Georgetown University men's basketball team outscored No. 22 Texas 45-24 in the second half, en route to an 82-66 victory over the Longhorns at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The game was the first semifinal of the 2K Empire Classic. With the win, Georgetown improves to 4-1 on the season and deals the Longhorns their first loss to slip to 4-1. “according to https://guhoyas.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-big-second-half-pushes-hoyas-past-no-22-texas-82-66.aspx
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS
Mac McClung led four Hoyas in double figures with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and a 2-of-3 effort from beyond the arc. .
Jamorko Pickett finished with 15 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor, and five rebounds
James Akinjo scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, including a perfect 10-of-10 performance from the free throw line. He also paced the Blue & Gray with six assists.
Omer Yurtseven rounded out those in double figures with 10 points in just 12 minutes of action.
Qudus Wahab and Josh LeBlanc each had nine points off the bench.
Jagan Mosely led Georgetown on the glass with seven rebounds.
The Hoyas shot 50.9 percent (28-55) for the game and held Texas to just 37.7 percent (23-61), including a 22.2 percent (6-27) clip in the second half.
The GU defense had six blocks and six steals, forcing 12 Texas turnovers, and the Hoyas held a 34-28 rebounding advantage.
“according to https://guhoyas.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-big-second-half-pushes-hoyas-past-no-22-texas-82-66.aspx
HOW IT HAPPENED
The defense was suffocating to start, forcing three turnovers and blocking two shots early as the Hoyas opened an 8-5 lead.
Despite eight unanswered from the Longhorns, a McClung 3-pointer followed by a LeBlanc bucket pulled the Hoyas right back in as the score was knotted at 13. Georgetown took the lead behind a pair of free throws from Wahab.
Both teams traded buckets throughout the first but another Texas triple tied the game once again (21-21).
Trailing six (33-27), a Pickett triple made it a one-possession game and free throws from Jagan Mosely cut the deficit to one.
Texas went on another run but Wahab managed another layup to put the Blue & Gray within five (42-37) going into the break.
The Hoyas came out firing in the second frame, with Omer Yurtseven tallying the first eight points and pulling the Hoyas within one (46-45) before a Pickett trey gave GU the two-point lead.
Trailing 52-50, the Hoyas staged a 12-0 run with five different players scoring points to take a commanding 62-52 advantage with 9:49 to play.
Akinjo put up eight straight from the charity stripe as he pushed the Blue & Gray ahead 76-63.
Georgetown cruised to the 82-66 victory at the final whistle.
“according to https://guhoyas.com/news/2019/11/21/mens-basketball-big-second-half-pushes-hoyas-past-no-22-texas-82-66.aspx
Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from Madision Square Garden. The game will be televised on ESPN2.