Belmont at Georgetown

Georgetown certainly has that look of a team that could cut down the nets at the end of this tournament. Some teams have found this first tournament game difficult that were in the same situation last year. UConn comes to mind, as they struggled. Belmont has really played their best basketball of the year in their last seven games. They had beaten seven opponents by 15+ points during the season, but added seven more to that total, all over their last seven games. They have perhaps the deepest team in the tournament, as they play 10 players double-digit minutes, and only one player logs over 30 minutes a game. Both of these teams are great defenders. Georgetown is limiting opponents to 38.3% shooting, and Belmont limits opponents to a nearly identical 38.7%. We are sure of one thing and that is Belmont has looked at the film from the Syracuse vs. Georgetown game many times over. They will employ a zone, just as Syracuse does, to limit penetration, and take Hibbert out of the game. Syracuse is the only team that beat Georgetown in their last 14 games. Their zone frustrated Georgetown, and they ended up shooting 25 three-point shots. They shot just 29.8% for the game. Last year Georgetown also lost to Syracuse in the Big East finals. The Belmont zone will be the key to the game. This will slow the game down, and take away the speed and athletic edge that Georgetown has, and keep Belmont them in the game. Belmont played at Michigan State early on, and they have improved since then by leaps and bounds. They led that game into the second half on Michigan St.'s home-court. Belmont is careful with the ball, and has only turned it over 11 times or less in 5 of their last 8 games, while Georgetown has forced just 24 turnovers over their last three. Belmont is experienced, and was in the tournament last year, so the novelty is gone, and they will be better prepared. We also like the UNDER in this one as Georgetown has played under in 23 of their last 31 neutral-court games, and has been 10-1 UNDER in first-round NCAA tournament games in their last 11 appearances.