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Splintersbut little else coming off Hoyas bench
STEVE DESHAZO: Hoyas will struggle to muster some contributions from the bench
Date published: 1/4/2009 By Steve DeShazo WASHINGTON-- On another day, under different circumstances, it might have drawn a huge ovation from a packed Verizon Center. Georgetown freshman Jason Clark left five Pittsburgh defenders behind for a breakaway dunk in the final minute of yesterday's Big East home opener.But instead of punctuating another victory, all Clark's basket did was reduce the third-ranked Panthers' final victory margin to 70-54, snapping the Hoyas' 29-game home win streak. Clark's otherwise forgettable field goal was symbolic as well, because it represented the only points Georgetown got from a bench that's thinner than a 4-year-old's excuse. And it's an issue the No. 11 Hoyas will have to address if they have any hopes of winning a third straight regular-season title in America's biggest and deepest conference. "It's important," coach John Thompson III said of finding quality depth. "We're a young team, and it's easy to say 'They should play more guys.' But as long as the guys on the court do what they should do, we'll be fine." They weren't fine yesterday--especially not in the second half. The veteran Panthers, who look very much like a Final Four team, wore down the younger, slimmer Hoyas in the final minutes and won in a runaway. Georgetown never led, but battled back from a 37-32 deficit to tie the score at 40 on DaJuan Summers' fourth 3-pointer of the game, with 14:12 remaining. From then on, it was all Pitt. The Panthers (14-0) outscored the tiring Hoyas 26-7 over the next 10 minutes and outrebounded them 48-23 for the game. In the second half, the board numbers (24-8) were even more staggering. Summers, who finished with a season-high 22 points, didn't hit another field goal after his game-tying 3. In terms of starting fives, the two sides were relatively even. But Pitt's Jamie Dixon had far more talent sitting beside him at tipoff than did Thompson. Massive sophomore forward DeJuan Blair (20 points, 17 rebounds) and slick point guard Levance Fields (eight assists, no turnovers) were the stars for Pittsburgh yesterday. But the Hoyas also had no facsimile for sophomore Gilbert Brown, who gave the Panthers nine points and six rebounds off the bench.
Date published: 1/4/2009
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