Wizards lose at Toronto 106-89 on Friday night (Feb. 3, 2012).

1.    The Wiz fell to 4-19 overall and 1-10 on the road.

2.    The Wiz fell to 2-4 under head coach Randy Wittman.

3.    The Wiz were routed despite the Raptors being without their best player, Andrea Bargnani (ahn-DRAY-uh bar-NYAH-nee).

4.    The Wiz were outrebounded, 61-37.  The 61 rebounds were a franchise record for the Raptors, who had 23 offensive rebounds.

5.    The Wiz shot 37.9 percent from the field.  The Raptors shot 45.2 percent.

6.    The Wiz had 13 assists.  The Raptors had 28.  Jose Calderon had 17.

7.    The Wiz were outscored in the paint, 68-38.

8.    Rashard Lewis went 3-for-10 from the field.  He finished with eight points and three rebounds.

9.    JaVale McGee went 2-for-8 from the field in just 17:36 as a starter.  He finished with eight points, six rebounds and four blocks.

10.    Jordan Crawford went 4-for-13 from the field and had a team-worst plus-minus rating of minus-17 in 26:05 off the bench.  He finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

11.    Rookie Jan Vesely (YAHN VEH-sih-lee), the sixth overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, started for the fifth consecutive game.  He had two points on 1-of-2 shooting and a turnover in just 7:47 of playing time.   

12.    Rookie Chris Singleton went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in 10:40 off the bench.

13.    Kevin Seraphin went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in 25:34 off the bench.  He did have four blocks and two rebounds.

14.    Positives from the loss:
     a.    Trevor Booker had 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 32:29 off the bench.
     b.    John Wall had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, four assists versus two turnovers and five rebounds.
     c.    Nick Young had 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting and four rebounds.
     d.    Rookie Shelvin Mack had seven points on 2-of-5 shooting, four rebounds and two assists in 17:06 off the bench.

Capitals lose at Florida 4-2 on Wednesday night (Feb. 01, 2012).

1.    The Caps fell to 26-20-4 overall and 8-14-3 on the road.

2.    The Caps fell to 14-11-3 under head coach Dale Hunter.

3.    The Caps fell to 10-7-3 all-time in games without Alex Ovechkin.

4.    The Caps fell from first in the Southeast Division to ninth in the Eastern Conference.  They now trail the division-leading Panthers by one point.

5.    The Caps gave up three third-period goals, including an empty-netter.

6.    The Caps went 0-for-2 on the power play and now are 29-for-162 on the power play this season.

7.    The Caps went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and now are 143-for-177 on the penalty kill this season.

8.    The Caps were outshot, 38-28.

9.    The Caps went just 19-29 on faceoffs.
     a.    Marcus Johansson went 3-7.
     b.    Center Jeff Halpern went 2-5.

10.    Injury/absence update:
     a.    Ovechkin did not play, as he served the third game of a three-game suspension for a hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek (zih-BEE-nick mih-KAH-lick) on Jan. 22.  
     b.    Center Nicklas Backstrom missed a 12th consecutive game.  He took an elbow to the head in the 3-1 win over Calgary on Jan. 3.
     c.    Defenseman Mike Green underwent abdominal surgery on Jan. 17 and was expected to miss an additional four to six weeks.  He has played in just 10 games this season due to groin and ankle injuries.
     d.    Defenseman Jeff Schultz was not a healthy scratch for just the third time in 23 games.
     e.    Defenseman John Erskine was a healthy scratch.

11.    Positives from the loss:
     a.    The Caps’ second line of Matt Hendricks, Brooks Laich and Troy Brouwer played well for a second consecutive game.
          i.    Laich scored a second-period goal (10) and finished with five hits and four shots on goal.  He did go just 7-14 on faceoffs.
          ii.   Hendricks had eight hits.  He did commit a third-period goaltender-interference penalty.
          iii.  Brouwer had five shots on goal and three hits.
     b.    Defenseman John Carlson scored a third-period goal (6).  He did commit a second-period high-sticking penalty.
     c.    Goaltender Michal Neuvirth started for just the third time in 16 games and stopped 34 of 37 shots.
     d.    The Caps outhit the Panthers, 38-23.
          i.    Defenseman Dennis Wideman had five hits but committed a second-period puck-over-glass penalty.
     e.    The Caps had 16 blocked shots to the Panthers’ 11.
          i.    Defenseman Roman Hamrlik had four blocked shots.

Wizards lose at Orlando 109-103 on Wednesday night (Feb. 01, 2012).

1.    The Wiz fell to 4-18 overall and 1-9 on the road.

2.    The Wiz fell to 2-3 under head coach Randy Wittman.

3.    The Wiz went 7-for-9 on free throws.  The Magic went 30-for-39.

4.    The Magic shot 45.2 percent from the field, including 13-for-30 on threes.

5.    John Wall went 1-for-12 from the field and finished with just two points.  He did have 10 assists versus three turnovers, seven rebounds and two steals.

6.    JaVale McGee battled foul trouble and had six points on 3-of-7 shooting, just six rebounds and two assists in 24:22 as a starter.

7.    Jordan Crawford went 3-for-6 on threes but 4-for-13 on twos in 34:57 off the bench.  He finished with 19 points, six assists and two rebounds.

8.    Rookie Jan Vesely (YAHN VEH-sih-lee), the sixth overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, started for the fourth consecutive game.  He had no points on 0-for-1 shooting and two steals in 16:01.

9.    Rookie Chris Singleton went 0-for-3 from the field and committed two turnovers in 12:57 off the bench.

10.    Positives from the loss:
     a.    The Wiz outrebounded the Magic, 45-37.
     b.    The Wiz shot 45.7 percent from the field, including 12-for-23 on threes.  
     c.    The Wiz had 44 points in the paint to the Magic’s 30.
     d.    The Wiz had 17 transition points to the Magic’s eight.
     e.    Nick Young battled foul trouble but went 4-for-5 on threes and finished with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting and three rebounds in just 21:09 as a starter.
     f.     Rashard Lewis had 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
     g.    Trevor Booker had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, nine rebounds and two blocks in 21:29 off the bench.
     h.    Kevin Seraphin had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes off the bench.
     i.     Rookie Shelvin Mack went 2-for-5 on threes and finished with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, four assists, two rebounds and two turnovers in 16:19 off the bench.

No. 14 Georgetown beats Connecticut 58-44 on Wednesday night (Feb. 01, 2012).

1.    The Hoyas improved to 17-4 overall and 7-3 in the Big East.

2.    The Hoyas, off allowing Pittsburgh to shoot 52.1 percent from the field and being outrebounded, 35-23, in a 72-60 loss at the Panthers last Saturday, were much better in those categories in this game.
     a.    The Hoyas held the Huskies to 30-percent shooting.
     b.    The Hoyas outrebounded the Huskies, 37-35.  Thirty of the Hoyas’ 37 rebounds came on the defensive end.

3.    The Hoyas shot 43.8 percent from the field.

4.    The Hoyas went 11-for-15 on free throws.

5.    Junior Hollis Thompson went 3-for-7 on threes and finished with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, nine rebounds and two steals.  He had totaled 15 points over the previous two games.

6.    Senior Jason Clark had 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, five rebounds and two assists.  He had gone 4-for-13 from the field over the previous two games.

7.    Freshman Mikael (mih-KAYL) Hopkins had four points on 2-of-2 shooting, a rebound and an assist in eight minutes off the bench.

8.    Sophomore Nate Lubick (LOO-bick) had three points on 1-of-1 shooting, two rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes as a starter.

9.    Sophomore Markel Starks had two points on 0-of-1 shooting, one assist versus two turnovers, a rebound and a steal in 17 minutes as a starter.

10.    Negatives from the win:
     a.    Senior Henry Sims had three assists versus seven turnovers, just four rebounds and went just 4-for-10 from the field.  He did finish with 13 points (including a monster dunk with 5:44 left in the second half) and two blocks.
     b.    Freshman Greg Whittington went 1-for-6 from the field in 15 minutes off the bench.  He finished with three points and two rebounds.
     c.    Freshman Otto Porter went 1-for-3 from the field in 33 minutes off the bench.  He finished with four points and four rebounds.

Maryland loses at Miami 90-86 in double overtime on Wednesday night (Feb. 01, 2012).

1.    The Terrapins fell to 13-8 overall and 3-4 in the ACC.

2.    The Terps now have lost four of their last five games.

3.    The Terps fell to 0-6 at Miami since it joined the ACC in July 2004.

4.    The game featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes.

5.    The Hurricanes played without 6-foot-11 junior Kenny Kadji (KAHD-jee), who’s averaging 12.5 points and 5.7 rebounds and has a team-high 35 blocks.

6.    Head coach Mark Turgeon was ejected with 7:28 left in the second half after drawing two quick technical fouls for an eruption over a charge on freshman Nick Faust.  Less than a minute later the Terps began a 23-7 run to conclude regulation.

7.    The Terps had 11 assists versus 19 turnovers.  The Canes had 17 assists versus 16 turnovers.

8.    Sophomore Pe’Shon Howard went 2-for-6 from the field, including 0-for-4 on threes, in 43 minutes off the bench.  He finished with six points, eight assists versus five turnovers, three rebounds and two steals.
     a.    Howard now is 3-for-10 from the field over the last two games.  He had re-emerged as an offensive force over the previous two games (25 points on 11-of 22 shooting).  Howard missed the first nine games of the season due to a broken left foot.

9.    Senior Sean Mosley went 1-for-7 from the field, including 0-for-3 on threes, in 44 minutes as a starter.  He finished with seven points and nine rebounds.

10.    Freshman Ashton Pankey went 1-for-5 from the field in 22 minutes as a starter.  He finished with two points and seven rebounds.

11.    The Terps were outrebounded, 43-42.

12.    Positives from the loss:
     a.    The Terps overcame a 16-point second-half deficit.
     b.    Sophomore Terrell Stoglin (teh-REHL STOH-glihn) went 6-for-20 on threes (including a game-tying three with 1:03 left in regulation) and 3-for-6 on twos.  He finished with 33 points, three rebounds and one assist versus three turnovers.
     c.    7-foot-1 freshman Alex Len had 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and four blocks in 31 minutes off the bench.
          i.    Len had provided 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting with 16 rebounds over the previous six games.  He had 54 points on 20-for-26 shooting with 35 rebounds over his first four games.  Len was suspended for the first 10 games of the season due to amateurism guidelines.
     d.    Junior James Padgett had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and five rebounds in 22 minutes as a starter.
     e.    Faust had nine points on 3-of-7 shooting, four rebounds and three steals in 24 minutes as a starter.
     f.     Sophomore Mychal Parker had six points on 2-of-3 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench.
     g.    The Terps went 26-for-35 on free throws.  The Canes went 20-for-27.

Capitals lose at Tampa Bay 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday night (Jan. 31, 2012).

1.    The Caps fell to 26-19-4.

2.    The Caps fell to 14-10-3 under head coach Dale Hunter.

3.    The Caps fell to 10-6-3 all-time in games without Alex Ovechkin.

4.    The Caps went 0-for-3 on the power play and now are 29-for-160 on the power play this season.

5.    The Caps went 21-29 on faceoffs.

6.    The Caps were outshot, 31-29.

7.    Defenseman John Carlson finished with a plus-minus rating of minus-4.

8.    Mike Knuble and defenseman Roman Hamrlik each finished with a plus-minus rating of minus-3.

9.    Goaltender Tomas Vokoun started for the 13th time in 15 games and stopped 27 of 31 shots.

10.    Injury/absence update:
     a.    Ovechkin did not play, as he served the second game of a three-game suspension for a hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek (zih-BEE-nick mih-KAH-lick) on Jan. 22.  
     b.    Center Nicklas Backstrom missed an 11th consecutive game.  He took an elbow to the head in the 3-1 win over Calgary on Jan. 3.
     c.    Defenseman Mike Green underwent abdominal surgery on Jan. 17 and was expected to miss an additional four to six weeks.  He has played in just 10 games this season due to groin and ankle injuries.
     d.    Defenseman Jeff Schultz was a healthy scratch for the 20th time in 22 games.

11.    Positives from the loss:
     a.    The Caps overcame a 3-1 second-period deficit.
     b.    The Caps’ second line of Matt Hendricks, Brooks Laich and Troy Brouwer played well.
          i.    They combined for 13 of the Caps’ 29 shots on goal.
          ii.   Hendricks scored a first-period goal (2) and had seven hits.
          iii.  Laich had an assist.  He did go just 8-10 on faceoffs.
          iv.  Brouwer scored a game-tying goal (15) with 5:53 left in the third period.  Five of his 15 goals have come against the Lightning.
     c.    Matthieu Perreault scored a second-period goal (8) and now has four goals over the last two games.  He did go just 2-6 on faceoffs.
     d.    Defenseman Karl Alzner finished with a plus-minus rating of plus-3.
     e.    The Caps outhit the Lightning, 22-17.
     f.     The Caps went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and now are 140-for-173 on the penalty kill this season.