There are certain standards of how to report a game like this depending on whether you covering the winning or losing team. The DC papers report a rally and comeback from as much as 15-points down by the Hoyas.

Green made 9 of 14 shots, including a career-best 4 of 7 three-point attempts. His quickness in Georgetown’s matchup zone helped the Hoyas hold Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh’s 7-foot junior, scoreless in the second half. On offense, Thompson pulled Green away from the basket and used him as a point-forward against the Panthers (17-3, 6-3 Big East). During the Hoyas’ decisive 14-4 run late in the game, Green twice drove by Gray and scored on easy layups.

“We thought that if we pulled Jeff away, he’d have a chance to go around him a little bit,” said Thompson, whose team has won six straight. “He made some tough lay-ups, which he does.”

“I just used my quickness against him,” said Green, a 6-foot-9 former All-Met from Northwestern High. “I knew when I came here, me playing the 4 [power forward] and the 5 [center], there was going to be guys bigger than me, so I really had to use my quickness against them and sometimes use my power. I just had to use that in this game a lot.”

The biggest difference between the pros and college is that inside-out threats are more dangerous in college where athleticism has a wider variance.

Pitt had them out of their game early.

Settling for jump shots instead of working their offense for easier inside looks, the Hoyas (16-4, 7-2 Big East) uncharacteristically missed seven consecutive 3-pointers while the Panthers (17-3, 6-3) parlayed a monster first-half performance from junior center Aaron Gray (15 points at halftime) into a 33-18 advantage late in the first 20 minutes.
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Thompson made a pair of key adjustments, one on each end, that precipitated the comeback.

Defensively, the Hoyas shifted from man-to-man to a sagging matchup zone that engulfed Gray, the 7-foot favorite to earn both the league’s most improved award and its rebounding crown (11.0 a game). An excellent passer and face-up shooter from inside 10 feet, Gray tormented fellow 7-footer Roy Hibbert and Green from point-blank range in the first half.

But after halftime, Gray routinely found himself bracketed by defenders and harassed by fronting guard traffic. Instead of forcing the ball into their most skilled offensive player, the Panthers chose to ignore Gray. He finished the second half with just four shots, zero points and three turnovers.

And offensively Thompson employed one of his favorite post-nullifying strategies, pulling Green out to the top of the key and running the offense through his versatile point forward. Against Duke, this strategy negated the defensive prowess of All-American Shelden Williams and led to a series of backdoor assists from Green. Against Pitt, which overplayed Georgetown’s cutters, it resulted in a season-high scoring eruption from Green.

The efficient 6-foot-9 forward from Hyattsville flipped the tables on Gray in the second half, torturing the slower, bigger man. If Gray gave him space, Green made him pay from behind the arc, drilling four of seven 3-pointers. And when Gray stepped into tight coverage, Green destroyed him off the dribble, slashing past him to the rim for a series of scores down the stretch and finishing 9-for-14 from the field.

I’m stressing what Green did to make a point. There’s only so much you can do against some adjustments and some players. You can’t exactly sit Gray and go with some combination of Young, Kendall, DeGroat, Benjamin and even Biggs inside. Those are still major match-up problems in terms of size, experience and athleticism against the 6’9″ Green, plus the ‘9″ Bowman. It’s a bit akin to the way Curtis Sumpter at Villanova last season was able to kill Troutman because of his ability to play outside as well as going in. It draws a big man who doesn’t have the speed further away from the basket and creates space.

On offense, it was actually easier for Gray when the 7’2″ Hibbert was there rather than Green and whoever else came to defend him.

For the Pittsburgh press, this was about Pitt blowing a lead.

“We felt like we got shots we wanted,” Fields said. “We just missed. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”

“That was a long stretch where we went without scoring,” Dixon said. “We got some open looks, but we just didn’t make them. And we didn’t get any offensive rebounds and didn’t get to the foul line. It was just a combination of things.”

Pitt easily solved Georgetown’s man-to-man defense in the first half. But after shooting 52 percent in the first 20 minutes, the Panthers were 8 for 24 from the field in the second half. The shooting percentage would have been worse had they not made three of their final shots in the last 30 seconds, when they attempted their furious comeback attempt.

“Playing against zone has been a strength of ours,” Dixon said. “We just didn’t do a very good job against it today. We needed to get more penetration. We missed some good shots. We made the right pass a lot of times. We just weren’t clicking out there.”

Center Aaron Gray led Pitt with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but he did not score after halftime. Gray was 0 for 4 from the field in the second half. Georgetown decided to double-team Gray and force others to win the game. Pitt’s other players had a hard time knocking down open mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers.

“We got a little away from what we wanted to do in the second half,” Gray said. “We were playing like we needed to win the game right there on a few of those possessions.”

It still comes down to making shots. Gray was killing them in the first half, and they went with the approach of making sure it was anyone but Gray. It worked. No one else was hitting.

There seems to be some controversy over Fields taking the lay-up in the final seconds rather than kick out for a 3.

Moments later, Georgetown (16-4, 7-2) couldn’t convert from the line again, as Jonathan Wallace missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Pitt’s Sam Young grabbed the rebound and passed to Fields who drove the length of the court for a layup with 3.6 seconds left.

With precious time ticking off the clock, Fields opted for the 2-point shot instead looking for one from behind the arc that could have tied the score.

“We didn’t have any timeouts,” he said. “We could have gone to a layup or kicked it out, but I didn’t want to waste any more time.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon backed up Fields on the play, which pulled Pitt within 59-58.

“I thought it worked out well, Dixon said. “The way it worked, you’re not going to get a better shot. We couldn’t have done it any better. We got as good a shot as you could get on the next play, even with them making their two free throws.”

After Fields’ shot, Ramon fouled Georgetown’s Darrel Owens, who made both free throws to extend the Hoyas’ lead back to three and set up Ramon’s last-second shot.

I really had no problem with it. I’d rather see a sure 2 there with no time lost and a chance to at least tie at the end rather than the 3-ball — especially the way Pitt was shooting. If Pitt missed, then they would really have problems. Even if Pitt makes it, G-town gets the last shot. The sure 2 kept more time on the clock and allowed Pitt a final shot to tie.