37 points, W + Doppelgangers

Not since the 1980’s have two prominent athletes appeared as such doppelgangers.

Admittedly, from the shoulders down, Carl Lewis could easily be distinguished from Walter Payton.

Mikael Hopkins

Otto Porter

…Two pictures of the same Georgetown Hoya?

No, friends. Two men, on the same team, on the court at the same time…

And just managed to beat the Tennessee Volunteers with 37 points on the board. Not at halftime. Final score GU 37 TEN 36.

Not since 1984 have the Georgetown Hoyas scored so few points in a game. (Ahem, we won the National Championship four games later.)

As you may recall, I opined back in ’08 that these late-November Georgetown-Tennessee games provide good opportunities for high-quality early-season basketball.

Didn’t happen this evening. But a win is a win.

The Tennessee Volunteers are Good

I have always thought of Old Spice as classic…My dad used Old Spice aftershave, and he smelled like the blue-blooded gentleman he was.

Plus, he took me to Disney World once. We had a great time. That was back when Epcot Center was brand new.

Cameron Tatum and the Vols ate a couple of Hoya sandwiches for lunch at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex

But regarding basketball, our trip to Disney World is off.

What can you do when your opponent has an unstoppable three-point shooter, swarming defense, and twice as many fans in the arena?

Meanwhile, your big man is in foul trouble. And the frustrations don’t stop: You play tough defense for 33 seconds. Then Tatum sinks yet another three.

“I said, ‘I’m going to Walt Disney World.’ But if this is Walt Disney World, I want to go somewhere else!”

What you can do under these inauspicious circumstances is: Lose the game in a respectable fashion, which is what the Hoyas did.

Tennessee has a great team. They are a force to be reckoned with. If they don’t win this Old Spice Classic tournament, I will retire from sports writing and go back to my day job.

Monroe & Co. bested Wichita State in Round 1

Let’s not get discouraged here. The Hoyas won a good game yesterday and put in a solid effort against a premier team.

This is not the end of the world. The Hoyas will be back.

(Though I must say I was itching for them to win this tournament. But it can hardly be called Classic since it has only existed for three years.)