Remember the good ol' days of Georgetown basketball?
The days of Patrick Ewing ... of Allen Iverson ... of a 16-0 start?
Oh, right, that fast start was this season, wasn't it? But now it seems like such a long time ago.
"When you got it, you got it. When you don't, there's a reason," guard Kevin Braswell said. "Our confidence has stopped.
"We just need to watch the games that we played at the beginning of the year to get our confidence back."
When the Hoyas started the season 16-0, they looked like a team that could play deep into March thanks to one of the country's deepest rotations. But now, they are a team that could be one-and-done in the Big Dance. Since their first loss of the season, a 70-66 setback to Pittsburgh on Jan. 20, the Hoyas haven't been the same.
Although the Big East offers more of a challenge than the Howards and Maryland-Eastern Shores of the college hoops landscape, there are ways for the Hoyas to recover their lost confidence during the stretch run.
Better shot selection would help. Braswell is taking too many shots, while freshman swingman Gerald Riley and senior guard Anthony Perry are both struggling through prolonged slumps. Also, senior center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje's become a non-factor in halfcourt sets.
There is this bright spot: It can't get much worse than the 26.9 percent the Hoyas shot against Villanova.
Then again, it can't get any worse than 61 points surrendered in the first half against Providence -- or the 103 allowed to the Friars in the first 100-point game posted against Georgetown in Big East play.
Just as they did earlier this season and in past years, the Hoyas need to make teams uncomfortable trying to settle into their offenses. This means that Boumtje Boumtje needs to become a full-time presence again instead of getting abused by other Big East big men.
"The season's not over, but we've got to go to work now," coach Craig Esherick said.
"This is when you find out whether you have guys who want to compete or not compete. This is when you find out whether you've got some people who want to jump ship or not."
Yessir ... this also is when we'll find out whether the Hoyas are any good: Besides a home-and-home with Rutgers, they must play Syracuse at home and travel to St. John's and Notre Dame.
"We've had a very good year up to this point, and we just have to work through some things," Esherick said.
Once around the East via SportsLine.com's team reports:
Colonials go down fighting
George Washington might be mired in a losing season, but the Colonials haven't gone down without a fight.
Tom Penders' team has been involved in several altercations this season, the latest being Chris Monroe's skirmish with Duquesne's Kevin Forney on Sunday. That scrum followed a series of scuffles during a game against St. John's and another incident in a player hospitality room in a Hawaii holiday tournament involving several Colonials and Tennessee players.
But Penders bristles at the suggestion that he's coaching a group of thugs.
"The Tennessee game was totally different from what happened last week, and it was different again against St. John's," he said. "Val Brown was hit in the testicles during the St. John's game. Against Duquesne, a skirmish broke out. Chris Monroe didn't throw a punch. He threw a stiff-arm to protect himself from the oncoming Forney.
"Chris Monroe tried to beak away from a fight, and put out a stiff arm to protect himself," he said. "But you have to run away from a fight, unlike if you were a citizen and saw someone getting mugged on a street corner. Then they'd call you a coward. They'd make a movie about you for something like that."
UConn still in the running
They might be testing their luck and tempting fate, but the Connecticut Huskies remain in the running for the NCAA Tournament.
Facing a schedule composed of must-wins the rest of the way, the Huskies delivered Tuesday night with a gut-check victory over high-flying Boston College, 82-71.
It's very simple for the Huskies right now. With a 16-8 record, 5-6 in the Big East, they still can do some damage. But another loss can't be tolerated.
Of course, a sweep of their remaining games won't be easy. The Huskies have five games left and three are on the road -- a place where the Huskies haven't exactly been stellar. The slate is as follows: at Virginia Tech (Saturday), at Syracuse, home to Miami and Notre Dame and at Seton Hall.
That's a killer stretch. Win all five and the 21-8 Huskies will be all set for the NCAAs. Win four and a 20-9 record (9-7 Big East) heading to the conference tourney looks good as well. But anything less is a bit iffy.
Balance in the Big East
Often overlooked in the deep Big East, West Virginia is quietly putting together a winning season (13-8) that should land them in the NIT at season's end.
A big reason for the Mountaineers' success has been their incredible balance. Brooks Berry's career-high 21 points against Notre Dame made him the sixth different West Virginia player to go for 20 or more this season.
The last time the Mountaineers had that many players score 20 or more was the 1987-88 season. Calvin Bowman (nine 20-point games), Tim Lyles (three), Lionel Armstead (three), Chris Moss (one) and Josh Yeager (one) are the others to go for 20 or more in a game this season.
Cavs can't figure out ACC
In the midst of one of their finest seasons in the past 20 years, Virginia is good enough to get in to the Top 10. The Cavs just haven't been good enough to stay there.
Earlier in the season the Cavaliers climbed to No. 8, only to get dropped on their heads by Wake Forest. Last week they climbed to No. 6, and were promptly bumped off at N.C. State and by upstart Georgia Tech.
The Cavs are a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament, but a season after finishing dead even in ACC play and being overlooked by the selection committee, this team could finish with a losing conference record.
In order to finish with the same 8-8 ACC record as last season, the Cavs have to go 3-2 the rest of the way. That will be anything but easy, as it means the Cavs will have to beat Duke, North Carolina or win at Maryland.