Oregon preseason All-American Dillon Brooks made his season debut, but Georgetown -- behind 26 points from Rodney Pryor -- spoiled the return, beating the No. 13 Ducks 65-61 at the Maui Invitational on Monday. Here are four takeaways:
1. Georgetown shut down Brooks
The Hoyas (2-2) never gave Brooks, who missed the first three games because of a foot injury, a chance to spoil their game plan. They pressured him on the perimeter, daring him to beat them by taking the ball to the basket.
Brooks was no doubt rusty and made 3 of 8 shots, missing several layups. When he got to the basket, he was almost always met by a defender. He was clearly limited, playing only 13 minutes off the bench to ease him back in, though looked close to 100 percent to me. He was exploding to the rim, diving for loose balls and didn't favor his injured foot. The Ducks (2-2) won't be 100 percent until Brooks returns to form.
2. Welcome to the rotation, Payton Pritchard
With Brooks limited, the freshman was afforded a larger role in the offense. He took advantage, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the second half to spark a rally. In the final 1:15, Pritchard recorded a steal, an assist on a Brooks 3-pointer, went coast to coast for a layup and a hit jumper that closed the gap to four. Playing a freshman in that situation says a lot about Dana Altman, and Pritchard rewarded his coach.
3. Bill Walton stole the show
The entertaining announcer painted a masterpiece, and was even featured in between segments on the ESPN telecast shirtless. Unfortunately, it was a brief highlight of him rowing on dry land. It was everything you expect from Walton.
Walton was insightful, but admitted that the second half was rather dull compared to the first, and things got a little off the tracks, leading to this exchange that took place toward the end of the game.
4. What's next
Georgetown advances in the Maui Invitational to play Wisconsin at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday. Oregon faces Tennessee at 1:30 p.m ET.