POG: West Virginia - Georgetown

Alex Ruoff's 13 points helped keep West Virginia in front for most of the game against Georgetown.

Unfortunately, Ruoff's timely shots weren't quite enough to give West Virginia the win, as the Mountaineers dropped a 58-57 decision to Georgetown.

Ruoff made three of his eight three-point attempts and was 5-1 from the field overall. He added one rebound, three assists and two steals in a game-high 37 minutes of action. Ruoff also pplayed solid defense on the perimenter, helping hold the Hoyas to a 4-17 shooting night from three-point range.

NET BURNERS

Jamie Smalligan broke out of his season long slump by canning both of his three-pointers, and had a third at the end of the first half waved off after a review of the clock showed that his long distance three came just after time had expired. Smalligan's renewed shooting touch may have also carried over into his all-around play, as he turned in 19 solid minutes against Hoya center Roy Hibbert.

"I told you guys yesterday that Jamie would have a good game," head coach Bob Huggins said. "This was a good matchup for him."

Although saddled with a couple of ticky-tack foul calls, Smalligan held his own against Hibbert, who managed 12 points but did not take over the game. Smalligan's physical play also helped force Hibbert into four turnovers.

WVU's foul problems again affected its rotation int he second half, and hurt the home team's rhythm, especially on offense. Smalligan, Alexander and Ruoff all finished with four fouls, and the former pair spent critical stretches of the second half on the bench.

The non-call on Patrick Ewing's block of Da'Sean Butler's layup try at the final buzzer can be debated, but the fact of the matter is that the game should never have come down to hoping an official had the courage to make a goaltending call at the horn. Butler had time to take the ball much more strongly to the basket, and perhaps even dunk it, but chose instead to "leave it on the rim". That can be partially excused, as Butler was trying to ensure that he got the shot away before time expired.

What can't be excused is West Virginia's putrid free throw shooting, which ended at 12-23. The 11 misses allowed Georgetown, which made twelve of fifteen chances, to make up the deficit from three-point range, where WVU held a five make advantage.