On Georgetown's first possession of the game Tuesday night against Missouri in Kansas City, the Hoyas milked the shot clock until Chris Wright slipped back-door and Austin Freeman laid a perfect bounce pass for a wide-open lay-up. And so began the typical John Thompson III grind-it-out battle of attrition.
Only that's not what happened at all.
In what was one of the most exciting games of the young season, No. 16 Georgetown outran No. 9 Missouri, 111-102 in overtime. Georgetown (7-0) accommodated the hosts by dropping 54 on the Tigers in the first half, but looked dead in the water down four late in the game. Wright's 3-pointer sent the game to overtime, and Jason Clark's hot shooting in the extra period propelled Georgetown to a huge early-season victory.
Missouri (5-1) dictated the early tempo, but sloppy play and sharp-shooting by the Hoya guards doomed the Tigers. Georgetown took advantage of its numerous clean looks, making 8 of 15 from deep in the first half, mostly in transition. The Hoyas sprinted out to an 18-point first half lead -- the largest of the game -- en route to the 54-point first half. The last time Georgetown broke 50 in a half was another 54-point outburst, this time against Syracuse in last season's Big East Tournament.
Freeman was unstoppable early, scoring 19 of his 31 points in the first half with back-breaking threes and strong drives. One such three came late in the half, after Missouri had whittled the Georgetown lead to six and looked poised to get another stop. With the shot clock winding down and less than a minute to play in the half, Freeman drained a three to extend the lead back to nine. Replays clearly showed that Freeman released the shot late, but since shot clock violations are considered a judgment call the play wasn't reviewed and the shot stood.
The Hoyas shot a sizzling 71 percent on the opening half, but Missouri continued to battle, and a Michael Dixon three with just over 12 minutes to play gave the Tigers their first lead. Missouri eventually stretched that lead to five, but Freeman scored on consecutive possessions to once again tie the game with under four minutes to play. The teams traded baskets to keep the score locked at 87, but Missouri forced a shot clock violation and scored on back-to-back possessions to take control of the game, prior to Wright's heroics.
After Dixon missed the second half of a one and one giving Missouri a 94-91 lead, Georgetown's Hollis Thompson took a wild three which clanged high off the rim. The Hoyas grabbed the rebound and kicked it out to a wide open Wright who coolly drained a three with less than a second remaining, sending the game into overtime.
Clark carried the Hoyas from there, scoring nine points in overtime, all off threes.
Freeman led all scorers with 31, Clark had 26, and Wright added 21. For Missouri, Marcus Denmon had 26 an Ricardo Ratliffe added 21.
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