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Various news items posted during January 2025.
 
 

St. John's 66, Georgetown 41

1/28/25

In its worst first half effort in 21 years, the Georgetown Hoyas were embarrassed in a 66-41 loss to the #15 ranked St. John's Redmen before 4,386 at Capital One Arena.

POST-GAME COVERAGE
Shooting just 24 percent from the field, its 41 points is the fewest points ever scored by the Hoyas in a Big East regular season game.

"We looked like the Bad News Hoyas out there, not even the Bad News Bears", said Georgetown coach Ed Cooley, noting that the Hoyas were "an embarrassment to the Bears."

St. John's came to this game rested and ready, winners of six straight and coming off a one week break. The break was noted by Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley in post-game remarks, who indicated that while it was not an excuse, the scheduling vagaries of the conference allowed a second consecutive Georgetown opponent to play on seven days rest.

Rested was not a word used to describe the Hoyas as the game opened: inattentive may have been more appropriate.

Georgetown was lifeless to open the game, giving up an easy layup and a dunk in the first ninety seconds and surrendered a 9-0 lead before an Ed Cooley time out three minutes in. A Caleb Williams three at the 15:53 mark was Georgetown's only points for the first eight minutes of the game, as St. John's scored on nine of its first 13 attempts, including three layups and a trio of three pointers--the latter a surprise given a St. John's team shooting just 29 percent from outside the arc in conference play. The Redmen were employing a smothering defense against Thomas Sorber that forced GU to settle for low percentage jumpers on the perimeter, and low percentage they were indeed: the Hoyas were 1 of 12 to open the game.

The Hoyas entered the 12 minute media time out down 20, 23-3.

Field goals by Micah Peavy and Jayden Epps helped the Hoyas approach double digits midway in the half, down 23-7. Georgetown would not make another field goal for the next six minutes.

By this point, the Redmen were on a run that had at least one New York writer recalling on social media a memorable moment in the series between the schools: Jan. 6, 1982, known as the "Garden Massacre" when the Hoyas went up 41-9 on #20 St. John's in Patrick Ewing's debut at a sold out Madison Square Garden. This game was approaching those lofty heights, except it was Georgetown and its weary fans staring skyward.



Down the stretch, St. John's took off, going on a 14-2 run from the inside, the outside, and anywhere they chose, extending the lead to a frightening 37-9 at the 4:30 mark, and 41-11 inside three minutes remaining. Georgetown had no answer and little in the way of fight.



Nine points late in the half from Malik Mack closed the wound to 47-21 at the break, as the Redmen shot 62 percent from the field, with 14 layups. Georgetown finished with seven field goals, six turnovers, and one assist in 20 minutes.

Coming off the ferocity of thee first half, one might expect the Redmen to moderate a bit, but few if any expected what took place: they ground to a halt.

Consecutive baskets from Thomas Sorber in the first minutes of the second half brought a glimmer o hope to the Hoyas, leading to a quick time out from Pitino. However, in a sign of the ineptitude on the floor in this game, no one on the team got Sorber the ball for the remainder of the half, and he touched it just once in the paint with 6:33 remaining, leading to a free throw. Sorber finished the half just 2 for 2 from the field before limping off the floor at the 3:43 mark.

"Georgetown's 41 points were their fewest ever scored in a Big East regular season game and their second-fewest against any Big East opponent. Even if St. John's put up a goose egg in the second half, they would have won by six."

--Rumble In The Garden

A three from Drew Fielder brought Georgetown to 47-28; the Redmen had opened the half 0 for 4 to the Hoyas' 3 for 4. This began a car crash of a half for both clubs. Over the next ten minutes, St. John's shot 3 for 11, Georgetown 3 for 13, with 15 turnovers between them. Micah Peavy hit a jumper with 7:05 to play which got the Hoyas to 16, 55-39, with the Redmen having scored just eight points in the first 13 minutes after the break. Any nascent hope of making this a game was snuffed out following a missed Curtis Williams three and a Peavy shot having been blocked under the basket by Kadary Richmond; on the ensuing break, Aaron Scott hit St. John's only three of the second half to extend the lead to 58-40, and GU would get no closer.

Outside of a Caleb Williams free throw with 3:00 left, Georgetown did not score a point for the last seven minutes of the game. much of it its own doing: eight consecutive misses to end the game, including two missed layups. For its part, the Aaron Scott three seemed to give the Redmen a second wind, shooting 50 percent for the remainder of the game and extending the margin to 25 at the conclusion.

St. John's put four starters in double figures, with Richmond shooting 6 for 7, with his only miss coming early in first half. Despite a frigid 29 percent after halftime, the Redmen ended the game shooting 48 percent from the field, with a 38-16 advantage in the paint, 21-7 on fast break points, and 5-0 on blocks, despite Georgetown being the taller team across the board.

"That was the best defense and offense we've ever played. I told them at halftime, I've only had one team in my life [Kentucky, the 1996 NCAA champions] that had a big lead like that, that just went for blood."
--St. John's coach Rick Pitino

Across the ledger, the Georgetown stat sheet reflected a group of individuals and not a team.

From the carnage of shooting 7 for 30 in the first half, GU proceeded to shoot 7 for 27 in the second and just 4 for 23 in the final 19 minutes. Georgetown was 6 of 26 from three point range in the game and gave up 16 turnovers to just 14 field goals; of which only six assists were collected, tying a low over the past three seasons.

Ed Cooley has coached himself into a corner of sorts: he does not rely on a bench and therefore cannot use them productively when the starters wear out. Micah Peavy played his fourth game in the last 14 days of 40 minutes each and shot a season low 3 for 14. Jayden Epps may still not be 100 percent but he is struggling: 0-3 in only 12 minutes of the second half, he finished 1 for 8 and is now 10 for 39 in his last four games.

Thomas Sorber finished 3 for 9 but this is the third game in the past four where he has left the game early with some sort of setback or injury. After a rare non-shooting effort at Providence, the GU bench was a combined 1 for 12 in this game; despite the outcome in no doubt after halftime, Cooley did not go more than seven deep the remainder of the game.

"We're at a point here where you have to continue to inspire your guys and lift them up," Cooley said, adding "it's a breaking point as far as how much we want to compete."

Those are not words not heard at St. John's, which, in Pitino's own words, are playing to be a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament and off to its best start since its Final Four team of 1984-85. That's not something Georgetown is playing for... yet again.

Whither the Hoyas at the halfway point of the Big East schedule? From a 3-0 start it has dropped six of seven and has not reached 70 points since a Dec. 28 game versus lowly Coppin State. Its 41 points in this game is its lowest output in a Big East game since the 2001 Big East tournament, a bizarre first round game where the second seeded Hoyas scored 14 points after halftime and lost to Seton Hall by 18. For a regular season game, only a 37-36 demolition derby with Tennessee in November 2012 even comes close.

Meanwhile, Georgetown has lost 20 consecutive games to ranked opponents, a school record, and nine consecutive to St. John's, its most wins against the Hoyas since a 10 game win streak from 1949 through 1972.

"I'm happy for the St. John's fans,"Pitino said. "As I walk around the streets of New York, I see them so happy. They come on the road, we're going to have 18,000 people for the Providence game on Saturday. So, I'm happy for them, because it's an identity they want to see. There's no reason that St. John's can't be a great basketball team."

There's no reason that Georgetown can't be a great basketball team, too. But not right now.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         34   1-4   3-5  2-3    5   3  1   13
Epps         22   1-5   0-3  0-0    2   0  2    2
Peavy        40   3-9   0-5  0-0    6   1  2    6
Fielder      24   0-1   2-4  0-0    5   0  1    6
Sorber       35   3-7   0-2  2-4    9   2  2    8
Reserves:  
Ca. Williams 21   0-3   1-3  3-7    4   0  1    6
Cu. Williams 16   0-1   0-4  0-0    1   0  0    0
Burks         4   0-1   0-0  0-0    1   0  0    0
Mulready      4   0-0   0-0  0-0    0   0  1    0
Team Rebounds                       4
Injured: Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Mckenna, Fort, Montgomery, Asadallah,
Van Raaphorst, Diouf
TOTALS      200 8-31  6-26  7-16  37   6  10   41



 

Codes Of Conduct

 1/27/25

If Georgetown students engaged in profanities directed at opposing coaches at Capital One Arena, what would happen?

No question: they would be ejected.

In fact, every Big East school maintains code of conduct policies that specifically prohibit what one member school calls "profane, bigoted, demeaning or abusive or other disruptive and intimidating language and/or gestures."

That school is Providence College.

For a second consecutive year, PC students and fans were eager to shout profanities at Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley in warm-ups, pre-game, during the game, and even after the game. The profanities were apparently distorted across the broadcast to avoid FCC issues but were more than audible throughout the arena and across social media.

"Providence Athletics is committed to a safe and welcoming environment that encourages and promotes good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches and spectators," reads its fan code of conduct.

"We request your cooperation by supporting our Dominican Catholic mission to create an inclusive environment that respects all races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations and disabilities. Profane, bigoted, demeaning or abusive or other disruptive and intimidating language and actions directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches, team representatives, or spectators will not be tolerated and are grounds for removal from the site of competition."

Of course, this is largely ignored by its students, who were called to task by athletic director Steve Napolillo last month as PC students repeatedly shouted "F--- the Mormons!" during its December 3 game versus Brigham Young University.



Napolillo has issued no comment following Saturday's game, which also included bottles tossed across the crowd with impunity.



This site has reached out to the Amica Mutual Pavilion for clarification on its guest conduct policy, which reads, in part, "guests will enjoy the event experience free from disruptive behavior, including foul or abusive language and obscene gestures". While there is no confirmation that arena officials sought to end the conduct, it apparently detained one individual who sought to continue his mastery of the F-word with Georgetown individuals leaving the floor after the game.



Tolerance of such behavior does not end with the college. Providence's reputation does not go unnoticed by the Big East Conference, but a nationally televised crowd of 12,400 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion brings more ratings than a peaceful midweek game on Fox Sports 1. A sold out venue and the resultant Cooley-PC dynamic was signed off twice for national broadcast; by comparison, the Big East has not scheduled a Saturday home game at Capital One Arena with the Friars in six years.

The two teams meet again in Washington on Wednesday, February 19.

 

A Very Rare Statistic

1/27/25

As noted in the game recap, Saturday's 78-68 loss to Providence was the first game in 12 years where the Georgetown bench failed to score a point. It's even more unusual, however.

Not only the Hoyas produce no points from its bench, but no shooting attempts were taken. When did that last happen? Amazingly, it was exactly 1,500 games ago.

On January 2, 1979, St. Joseph's arrived during Christmas break at McDonough Gymnasium and upset the #15-ranked Hoyas, 37-36. A starting lineup of John Duren, Eric Floyd, Steve Martin, Craig Shelton, and Tom Scates shot 14 for 30 in the game, while reserves Ed Spriggs, Eric Smith, and Terry Fenlon did not take a shot in a combined 20 minutes on the court.

In this age of heightened bench play, it may take another 46 seasons to repeat a similar outcome.

 

Georgetown-Providence Wrap-Up

1/26/25

A review of the game from MTC's Marcus Washington:



 

Providence 78, Georgetown 68

1/25/25

A pair of seasons-best games from Micah Peavy and Thomas Sorber was not enough as the Providence Friars held off Georgetown 78-68 before a sold out crowd at the Amica Mutual Pavilion Saturday.

POST-GAME ARTICLES
Amidst the perfunctory profanities at head coach Ed Cooley as provided by the ill-tempered and overserved Providence College student section, the 12,400 in attendance knew that this was not the Georgetown teams of the recent past, and the Hoyas showed it from the start, led by freshman center Thomas Sorber. The Hoyas opened the game on fire, with Sorber contributing seven points, four rebounds and two blocks in the first six minutes of the half, sending the Hoyas up seven, 14-7.

Georgetown opened the game shooting a combined 11 for 15, temporarily silencing the home crowd with a 25-13 lead midway through the first half. The Friars answered back with a hearty run of its own, shooting 7 for 11 from the field and holding the Hoyas to three field goals over the next seven minutes, taking a 34-31 lead with 2:48 to halftime. A layup by Sorber at the 2:28 mark was Georgetown's remaining points of a half where PC outscored the Hoyas 13-2 to take a 38-33 lead at the break, shooting 48 percent and scoring on 56 percent of its possessions despite a combined 26 points from Sorber and Micah Peavy for Georgetown.

"This was the first game we played all year where I thought our defense let us down," said Georgetown coach Ed Cooley. "I don't think we were gritty and I thought that Providence was tougher."

A Peavy jumper opened the second half but PC set the tone early. Five offensive rebounds in a 1:24 stretch and sent a message that the Friars were not going away, extending its lead to 44-37 despite shooting just 2 for 8 to open the second half. Georgetown answered back with an 8-0 run over a four minute period, with Peavy reaching back for a step back jumper to give the Hoyas a 45-44 lead at the 12:52 mark. Following a shot clock violation by PC, Peavy missed a jumper and the Friars answered with a three pointer from reserve center Christ Essandoko, only his third three of the season, to regain the lead at 47-45. The Friars would not lose the lead thereafter.

Providence got a big second half from reserve forward Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who was scoreless in four minutes of the second half. In a 57 second stretch, Abdur-Rahim contributed an assist, a steal, and a three pointer to put the Friars up five, 52-47, then caught Sorber mid-air for a foul and deposited three free throws at the 8:34 mark, 55-49.



Abdur-Rahim scored 12 points over 12 minutes of play to keep the Friars up front, including six of the final eight points of the game.

Down by as many as 10 in the second half, the Hoyas never truly went away, thanks to Peavy and Sorber. Peavy hit a three to close the margin to 68-61 with 3:11 to play, while Sorber was concurrently thrown to the floor by Essandoko during the shot and collected two free throws rather than something more substantial, 68-63.



Following a Corey Floyd miss from three, a Jayden Epps miss was rebounded by Drew Fielder, who scooped the ball back for a basket and a foul, 68-65, with 2:30 to play. In his only appearance at the foul line for the afternoon, Fielder missed a foul shot that would have brought the Hoyas to within two, and on the following possession, Abdur-Rahim sank a long three to put PC up six, 71-67, with 2:09 remaining, sending a wave of bottles and beers flying over the PC student section, many of whom the Amica Mutual Pavilion apparently fails to card for ID.



Peavy was back in action, connecting on a jumper to close to 71-67. Abdur-Rahim put the game away when, with five seconds on the shot clock and 1:01 remaining, caught Drew Fielder late on defense and got fouled on the three point attempt, sinking three more from the foul line.

"Being so reliant on just four players makes Georgetown highly susceptible to poor individual performances. If any of the top options have a bad game, the offense simply does not have enough versatility to survive. The backcourt duo of Malik Mack and Jayden Epps combined to go 5 of 23 from the field against Providence, which ultimately put Peavy and Sorber's dazzling days to waste."
--New York Times

The Friars put five players in double figures, with 14 each from Jayden Pierre and Bensley Joseph, 12 from Abdur-Rahim, 11 from Floyd, and 10 from freshman center Oswin Erhunmwunse, matching his output from the previous two games combined. As a team, PC shot 45 percent from the field and got eight second half assists on 12 field goals.

As for Georgetown, it was a story of two men, and only two: Micah Peavy and Thomas Sorber. Peavy led all scorers with a career-best 27 points, 12 for 19 from the field and 7 for 10 after the break. Sorber had 16 points in the first half on 7 for 9 shooting and finished with 25 points, 15 points, and three blocks. Two men do not make a team, however, and the lack of support from the rest of the lineup is the visible takeaway from this game.

Malik Mack ended the game shooting 2 for 9, and was not effective on defenses against Pierre and Joseph. The same could be said for Jayden Epps, of whom the Fox broadcast announcers openly speculated whether Georgetown would get the more efficient Epps seen this season or the 2024 version, a player who shot on sight and with little cumulative effect. By game's end, it proved the latter as Epps was 1 for 8 after halftime and 3 for 14 overall. Drew Fielder had one shot for the game and played only five minutes after halftime.

As for help from the bench, well, there was none. For the first time since a 49-48 loss at Marquette on Jan. 5, 2013, the Georgetown bench failed to score a single point. In this game, it failed to take a single shot.

Overall, Georgetown shot 46 percent from the field, with Peavy and Sorber at 22 for 36, the rest of the starting lineup at 6 for 24, and the aforementioned 0-fer from the bench. This was the seventh consecutive game that GU has failed to score 70 points, and the eighth game in the last nine where it had eight or fewer threes.

"I thought our guys really competed and played together," said Providence coach Kim English. "When that happens, and you're disciplined, you take care of the ball, you rebound, and you take good shots, you usually come out on the right side of the win column."

The win is Providence's eighth consecutive versus the Hoyas dating to the 2020-21 season. Georgetown falls to 1-10 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion since the 2012-13 season, where Providence has enjoyed Saturday home games with Georgetown in back to back seasons. By contrast, the Big East has not scheduled a Saturday home game for Georgetown since 2019.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         37   1-5   1-4  3-5    2  3   2    8   
Epps         35   3-11  0-3  0-0    1  2   2    6
Peavy        40  11-16  1-3  2-3    2  2   2   27
Fielder      16   1-1   0-0  0-1    3  1   1    2
Sorber       40   8-14  2-3  3-3   15  2   14  25  
Reserves:  
Ca. Williams 16   0-0   0-0  0-0    4  0    3   0
Cu. Williams  9   0-0   0-0  0-0    3  0    0   0
Burks         6   0-0   0-0  0-0    0  0    1   0
Team Rebounds                       2
Injured: Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Mckenna, Fort, Montgomery, Asadallah,
Van Raaphorst, Diouf, Mulready 
TOTALS      200 24-47 4-13  8-12  32  10   15  68

 

Reed Speaks About NCAA Tournament Committee

1/24/25

Athletic Director Lee Reed spoke with NCAA.com writer Andy Katz this week about his role on the 2025 NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Reed was appointed in September to the committee as the Big East representative, following the departure of Mark Jackson from Villanova to Northwestern last summer. His term runs through June 30, 2026.



 

"Nickel Boys" Nominated For Two Academy Awards

1/23/25

Congratulations to former basketball letterman RaMell Ross (C'05), as his debut feature film "Nickel Boys", was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2025 Academy Awards.

"Before rising to prominence as a film maker, Ross played guard/forward for the Georgetown men's basketball team from 2000-05," writes USA Today. "Ross played high school basketball at Lake Braddock, where his Georgetown athletics page said he became a McDonald's All-American honorable mention. Now, he's a bona fide auteur responsible for one of the best films of the decade so far in Nickel Boys and a two-time Oscar nominee."



 

Georgetown At 236

1/24/25

Thursday marks the traditional anniversary of the founding of Georgetown University on this day, January 23, 1789.

Historians and scholars have considered the selection of this year as somewhat arbitrary: the school could have claimed a founding date as early as 1787, 1788, or even as late as 1792. January 23 is noted as the day where the purchase of the campus was finalized.

As noted in the bicentennial history of the University, a clerical error by a visiting Jesuit affixed its first building as having been built in 1789, and the year became noted in the college prospectus as early as 1851.

Then, as now, the date of 1789 is evocative of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the dawn of the federal government, and the founding of the first Catholic diocese in the nation under the auspices of then-Bishop John Carroll, the University's founder. Though there once was a roundabout effort to change the school's founding date to 1634 (making it two years older than Harvard), 1789 (and today's date) remains for the nation's oldest Catholic university and for Georgetown Prep as the nation's oldest Catholic high school.

Happy birthday, Georgetown.



 

Georgetown 64, Villanova 63

1/20/25

Holding the Villanova Wildcats scoreless in the final 4:52, the Georgetown Hoyas ended a four game losing streak with its first road win at Villanova in 14 years, 64-63, before an announced sellout of 6,501 at the Finneran Pavilion.

POST-GAME COVERAGE


The win was somewhat unexpected given the Hoyas' injuries and continuing struggles on offense, having failed to score 70 points in any of its prior four losses, not to mention facing a team ranked ninth nationally in offensive efficiency who beat the Hoyas by 28 in this building a year earlier. Instead, its defense carried them late in a game which will not go unnoticed at season's end.

After Georgetown officials declared center Thomas Sorber and guard Jayden Epps out "indefinitely" with injuries following the DePaul game, well, indefinitely isn't that long of a time anymore: both were ready for this game, with Sorber getting the start and Epps coming off the bench. Sorber scored the opening basket for GU but was limited to 1-7 shooting thereafter in the first half, while Epps was 1 for 4 in 14 minutes of first half action.

An early run of threes piloted the Wildcats to an 13-7 lead and triggered a Georgetown timeout at the 13:35 mark. A three by Micah Peavy and free throws from Sorber brought Georgetown to 13-12 at the 12:37 mark. Ten seconds later, Sorber lost the ball out of bounds near the Georgetown bench. If words were exchanged, they were not evident as Sorber appeared to walk away. Villanova guard Wooga Poplar, who was away from the original play, suddenly walked up and moved to swing at Sorber through the crowd. Though Poplar made no contact, the wild swing was judged as a "flagrant-2" technical foul and he was ejected.

The Wildcats regained the lead at 15-14 and held it the remainder of the first half, thanks to six three pointers and and 16 second chance points. Villanova outscored Georgetown 10-2 to end the first half at 34-27, behind 16 points from Eric Dixon, averaging 23 points per game entering Monday's matchup. Georgetown ended the half shooting 30 percent from the floor from both two (4-13) and three point (4-13) distance.

The second half opened poorly for the Hoyas. An early basket by Sorber was the only points Georgetown could muster over the first three minutes, as the Wildcats scored eight straight to go up 13 at the 16:40 mark, 42-29. A much needed three from Peavy brought the Hoyas back to 10 at the first media time out of the half, 42-32.

Defense was the order of the day for the Hoyas after halftime, but they could not gain ground. A 6-0 run over 39 seconds brought Georgetown to 46-41 with 12:32 to play, highlighted by a falling Thomas Sorber finding Caleb Williams with a pass in the lane for a score.



A Kris Parker layup and an Eric Dixon three helped the Wildcats answer en route to seven straight, 53-41. Neither team was effective from outside in the second half, save an unusual run where the teams traded six threes over six consecutive scoring possessions, with four from the Hoyas: two from Epps, two from Peavy, bringing the score to 59-53 with 6:10 to play.

Neither team scored from three for the remainder of the game but what had changed? Villanova had given up only two turnovers for the first ten minutes of the second half but four in the next four and three in the final six. Georgetown had cut off the feeds that had allowed Dixon to score with ease, and forced Villanova into bad passes.

The Wildcats weren't quite done, however. Dixon drove down the lane, 61-53. Georgetown answered with an clean look from Epps for Jordan Burks, 61-55. Jordan Longino's short jumper kept the lead at eight, 63-55, with 4:52 to play.

A defensive stalemate took hold over the next two minutes. Epps missed a three, Dixon missed an open jumper. Peavy was picked off by Perkins, but Burks picked off as pass from Longino 16 seconds later. A Peavy drive was swatted away by Tyler Perkins, but the Hoyas maintained possession on an offensive rebound heading into the media timeout.

Each team missed on their next possession until a foul by Peavy sent Dixon to the line with 2:40 remaining. For all his heroics, Dixon entered the line shooting just 5 for 9. Dixon missed the first and a lane violation on the second was for naught. Off an offensive rebound, Sorber was fouled with 2:34 to play and sank two from the line, 63-57.

A Malik Mack steal offered the Hoyas some unrequited hope: a pair of missed shots at the two minute mark could not close the gap. Still up six, Tyler Perkins could not get the ball inside and launched up a poor three point attempt. Off the rebound, Sorber got the ball to Epps, who opened the door for Mack, now 0-8 from the field and razzed by the Villanova student section every time he touched the ball. Mack drove the lane and picked up the basket and the foul, 63-60, with 1:25 to play.



Off a Villanova time out, the Wildcats struggled to maintain its passing lanes, and a pass from Dixon to Longino was picked off by Peavy, who drove the lane to close to 63-62 with 48 seconds to play. On its next series, Dixon's inside shot was off, and the Hoyas took over with 22 seconds to play, down one.

Villanova had three fouls to give before the bonus took effect and used each to whittle down the clock; thus, the Hoyas began its final drive with 12 seconds to play. If the Wildcats were expecting Epps to pop outside or Sorber to patrol the pivot, they found neither. Instead it was Peavy, who drove the lane to put the Hoyas up one, 64-63, with 1.7 seconds remaining, later ticked up to 1.8 after video review.



"On the last play, I thought we did a good job," said Villanova coach Kyle Neptune in post-game comments. "Peavy made a tough shot. He went to his weak side. I thought he got a little separation with a jab."

"They called the play for me to go get a bucket, and I just trusted my work," Peavy said.

"Today was a resilient win, today was a culture win, today was a program win."
--Georgetown coach Ed Cooley

Following a Villanova time out, the Wildcats still had a chance. A long pass to Dixon was successfully completed to the left of the foul line, with Dixon having an open 12 footer for the game winner. The shot was tantalizing close but caromed off the rim, and Georgetown carried a win out of the Finneran Pavilion for the first time since a pair of Darrel Owens free throws did the trick nearly 20 years ago.

A pair of players led each team, especially after halftime. A total of 24 of Georgetown's 37 second half points were from either Micah Peavy (13) or Jayden Epps (11), shooting a combined 9 for 18 from the field; the remainder of the team managed just 4 for 14 between them. For the game, Peavy and Epps combined for 39 while Thomas Sorber, who struggled inside for most of this game and shot just 3 for 14, was a sterling 9 for 10 from the foul line and finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

A total of 47 of Villanova's 63 points, and 20 of 29 after halftime, belonged to Eric Dixon and Jordan Longino. Dixon scored 29 points but gave up a season high six turnovers, while Longino was just short of a career high with 18. Jahmir Brickus, identified in the Pre-Game Report as struggling with putting together back to back games, had 18 points and one turnover versus Providence but just three points in this game, along with a season high five turnovers.

The loss of Wooga Poplar after halftime was evident. Averaging 14.5 points per game, his emotions got the best of him and Villanova never replaced his scoring, with reserve guard Tyler Perkins finishing 1 for 6 in 34 minutes of action and scoreless in the second half.

The Wildcats ended the game with a 41-30 advantage on rebounds, 22-10 on second chance points, and a lead it held for all of 1.8 seconds of the final 34 minutes of the game. But the late numbers were crushing: 0 for 5 from the field, a missed free throw, a lane violation, and three turnovers, all of which led to nine straight Georgetown points to close out the game.

"A lot of the credit goes to Georgetown," said Neptune. "I thought our guys battled. Georgetown stuck in there the entire game and locked us up in the final few minutes. We just didn't have enough in the end."

"To be down the way we were, with things not going our way, for our men to fight back, I think we had nine straight stops on the defensive side of the ball," said Cooley, who arrived in the press room wearing a Washington Commanders sweatshirt. "Just a great team win and to do it on Martin Luther King Day means more to me than any of you will ever understand. Those opportunities weren't there to coaches, players, people without that vision, without that love and compassion for humanity.

"So MLK, I appreciate you, bro."

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         34   1-5   0-4  1-1    2  2   2    3  
Peavy        36   3-7   6-9  0-0    4  1   4   24
Ca. Williams 22   1-1   1-2  0-0    5  1   1    5
Fielder      21   0-0   0-1  0-0    1  2   2    0
Sorber       35   3-13  0-1  9-10  11  4   3   15  
Reserves:  
Epps         31   2-5   3-6  2-2    2  4   1   15
Cu. Williams 10   0-0   0-2  0-0    0  0   0    0 
Burks        12   1-1   0-1  0-0    2  0   0    2
Team Rebounds                       3
Injured: Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Mckenna, Fort, Montgomery, Asadallah,
Van Raaphorst, Diouf, Mulready 
TOTALS      200 11-32 10-26  12-13 30 14  13   64





 

Inauguration Day Basketball

1/19/24

Georgetown's game Monday at Villanova raises a question: have the Hoyas ever hosted a game on Inauguration Day?

In fact, it's happened three times, most recently in 2001, where Pitt upset #9 Georgetown before 12,109 at MCI Center and ended the Hoyas' 16 game winning streak, its longest since 1985.

Post 9/11, that probably won't happen anymore, now that the Nation's Capital becomes a fortress during the inaugural. For this weekend, most roads to Capital One Arena are inaccessible by car through Monday evening and a Metro entrance to Gallery Place is closed for security reasons. Georgetown's next home game is not until January 28.

The arena will host a pair of political events Sunday and Monday, owing to the decision by the President-elect to cancel outdoor ceremonies due to weather.

"Officials Saturday afternoon could not say how tickets to the event would be redistributed, and if there was a second location for the remaining ticket holders to watch the inauguration from. More information is expected," reported WTTG-5. "At this time, no information has been released about the timing for doors to open at Capital One Arena or Trump's arrival."

 

Eric Smith Honored At Churchill HS

1/19/24

Former Georgetown star Eric Smith (C'82) was honored at Winston Churchill HS on Friday, retiring the #44 jersey he wore there.

Smith, a 1978 graduate of Churchill, became the first Washington player since 1973 to be first team All-Met in football and basketball, having won Maryland state championships in both football and basketball in his senior year.

"It took him 47 years to get here," said Les Lombardi, his former coach at Churchill, in an article at Sports Illustrated. "He made me a good coach. We had seven guys from the team here tonight. A real tribute to Eric, because he did a lot for Churchill High School, and he did a lot for the whole area."

A three sport letterman for the Bulldogs, Smith turned down a number of football offers to play basketball at Georgetown, but was so highly regarded that he received a tryout offer by the Dallas Cowboys despite not having played football at Georgetown. A quiet leader on and off the court, Smith averaged 7.7 points per game from 1978-1982 and was an All-Big East second team selection as a junior and third team selection as a senior.

"Eric Smith's college career set a high standard for those who followed him--a career 49 percent shooter, a leader in assists and steals, and a tenacious but smart defender who fouled out of only five games in his career," wrote the Georgetown Basketball History Project. "Eric Smith was not only a talented player, but he made people around him even better, setting him apart as one of Georgetown's great small forwards of the modern era."

 

Kevin Braswell Hospitalized In Japan

1/19/24

Former Georgetown guard Kevin Braswell suffered a heart attack last week and remains in a hospital in Japan, according to a Australian basketball broadcast.

Braswell, 45, played at Georgetown from 1998 through 2002 and ranks 10th on the school's career scoring list, first in assists, and first in steals. He has spent the majority of his professional career in Australia and New Zealand as a player and coach. He returned to the U.S. in 2019 to complete his degree at Georgetown and served one year as an assistant coach at Coppin State before taking an offer as associate head coach of the Akita Northern Happinets in the Japanese B League, and is currently the head coach of the Utsunomiya Brex.

No further details on Braswell's condition were shared on the broadcast, which was shared on the Georgetown Basketball feed on Twitter.



 

DePaul 73, Georgetown 68

1/18/24

The DePaul Blue Demons ended a Big East record 39 game conference losing streak in a 73-68 win over Georgetown before 5,311 at Capital One Arena.

POST-GAME COVERAGE  
The last Big East win for the Demons came 730 days ago, a 73-72 home win over Xavier on Jan. 18, 2023; its last road game was even more distant, a 68-65 win over Georgetown at Capital One Arena on February 24, 2022.

But the back story to this game was evident at the start: the ongoing injury to Jayden Epps and the recent injury of Thomas Sorber in the St. John's game, keeping both out of action in the game. Down to eight healthy scholarship players, the loss was noticeable.

"Our injuries are really catching up to us," said head coach Ed Cooley, but that wasn't the whole story.

"We missed opportunities."

Following a Drew Fielder basket to open the game, the Hoyas were noncompetitive for much of the first half, missing 12 of its next 13 shots and giving the struggling Blue Demons that most valuable of words for a road team: hope. DePaul carried a 10 point lead midway through the first half thanks to 28 percent shooting by the Hoyas, and zero for seven from three until the final minute of the half. DePaul led by as many as 15 with 2:06 to halftime before Georgetown ended the half on a 6-0 run, but a nine point deficit seemed a best-case scenario in a half where DePaul shot 56 percent from the field and 50 percent from three point range against an often lifeless Hoya offense without Epps and Sorber.

However troubling the first half was, its opponent had a run of second half collapses this season, losing three Big East games in overtime, including giving up a 19 point second half lead to Seton Hall and losing a four point lead on #7 Marquette with 50 seconds remaining. If DePaul was going to win this game, they would have to earn it.

DePaul opened the second half with a turnover, a sign of things to come as Georgetown slowly, perhaps too slowly, ratcheted up the pressure on the Blue Demons.

A Drew Fielder basket to to open the second half narrowed the score to 39-30 but in a repeat of the first half, the Hoyas missed five of its next six, allowing the Demons to push the lead back to 16 at the first media time out, 49-33. Both teams began to pick up the scoring pace, shooting 5 for 7 for each of them, but DePaul still maintained a double digit lead midway through the second half. Defensive intensity by the Hoyas forced the Blue Demons into shots late in the shot clock, leading DU to shoot one for its next six and cough up four turnovers in a four minute stretch, with baskets by Drew Fielder and Curtis Williams to close the margin to seven, 55-48, with 9:48 to play.

This was the first of three gut checks for the Blue Demons and they answered the call each time. After Malik Mack soared for a block on a drive from DePaul's Layden Blocker, the Demons turned over the ball over following an errant Fielder three but survived a three point miss from Caleb Williams and an alley-oop dunk missed by Jordan Burks, eventually getting back to back jumpers from C.J. Gunn to push its lead back to 11, 62-51, with 5:52 remaining.

Baskets by Caleb Williams and Malik Mack brought the Hoyas back to seven with 5:01 left when DePaul guard Conor Enright fell to the floor with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. A video review tagged Fielder with a dead ball technical foul for plowing over Enright, with free throws pushing the DePaul lead back to nine at 64-55.

DePaul's luck was visibly running out, however. Turnovers on two of its next three possessions and a pair of missed layups haunted the Blue Demons, but it was not until Curtis Williams drove the lane for a layup to close to 64-60 with 2:55 remaining that the late evening crowd began to embrace the comeback.

Late game mistakes befell both teams. On the next possession, Blocker lost the ball at midcourt, but Mack gave up a double dribble on a inside possession. DePaul split a pair of free throws at the 2:31 mark, 65-60, but Georgetown picked up a big offensive rebound from Curtis Williams that fed Mack for a three, 65-63.

DePaul continued to stumble to the finish: coach Chris Holtmann called a time out with seven seconds in the shot clock after the Demons had nearly lost the ball twice on the key possession. On the ensuing play, Gunn stepped out of bounds receiving the inbound pass.

"Players win games, like Troy's three. You can diagram as much as you want, but at the end of the day, players have to step up and win games."
--DePaul coach Chris Holtmann

Following a Georgetown timeout with 1:08 to play, Caleb Williams' pass inside to Fielder was picked off by Troy D'Amico, who had a quiet game with two points in 19 second half minutes. DePaul's offense nearly gave up a shot clock violation on its next possession before D'Amico, with two seconds on the shot clock and 26 overall, freed himself from Caleb Williams and launched his only three point shot of the game, 68-63.



Micah Peavy, all but invisible in the game, quickly brought GU to 68-65 with 21 seconds remaining, but the Blue Demons connected on its next five free throws to put the game away.

Little things meant a lot to Georgetown in this game: a missed alley-oop dunk from Jordan Burks, Fielder's unnecessary collision with Enright, Mack's double dribble. All of these provided a narrow window for DePaul to skate past the Hoyas for a win it had every opportunity to give up over the last ten minutes.

The outcome was not the crushing blow it might have been, as fans understood the weight of what was not on the floor. Thomas Sorber and Jayden Epps account for 35 percent of the team's scoring and a thin GU bench was not, and perhaps is not capable of picking up that level of responsibility. The Blue Demons outscored the Hoyas 28-4 from the bench, with Jordan Burks' one field goal in six attempts accounting for GU's only bench points of the second half. Mack and Fielder combined for 38 points in this game, but Peavy's one for six was sorely lacking and neither Drew McKenna nor Kayvaun Mulready was up to the task at hand.

Per the Washington Post, this was Georgetown's fifth consecutive game under 70 points, a streak last reached under John Thompson III in the 2012-13 season when the Hoyas held those same five opponents to a mere 51.6 points per game. In the last five of this season, it has scored 64.2 points and allowed 68.2.

Sorber and Epps were listed before the game as out "indefinitely", which is both a point of immediate of concern and a warning that neither should be expected for Monday's game at Villanova. Earlier this evening, the Wildcats fought off a late rally from Providence to defeat the Friars 75-73, and now seek a seventh consecutive win over the Hoyas at the Finneran Pavilion and a 12th consecutive home win in the regular season series dating to 2011.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         38   5-9   3-6  0-0    4  6   2   19
Peavy        40   1-4   0-2  4-6   10  3   5    6
Ca. Williams 35   5-10  0-2  0-0    6  1   4   10
Cu. Williams 28   2-5   2-5  0-0    2  0   0   10
Fielder      34   6-9   1-5  4-5    8  2   4   19
Reserves:  
McKenna       5   0-0   0-0  0-0    0  0   1    0
Burks        17   2-5   0-2  0-0    0  0   1    4
Mulready      5   0-1   0-0  0-0    0  0   0    0
Team Rebounds                       3
Injured: Epps, Sorber, Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Fort, Montgomery, Asadallah,
Van Raaphorst, Diouf 
TOTALS      200 21-43 6-22  8-11  30  12  17   68

 

St. John's 63, Georgetown 58

1/14/25

For a third consecutive game, a promising first half for the Georgetown Hoyas evaporated as a series of defensive stops propelled the St. John's Redmen to a hard fought 63-58 win at Madison Square Garden.

POST-GAME COVERAGE
St. John's was playing without starting guard Deivon Smith and it showed early. Georgetown opened with an 8-2 lead but much of the first half was a standoff between two poor shooting teams. Seven minutes in, the Hoyas were 5 for 15 from the field, the Redmen 1 for 9.

Midway through the half, Georgetown led 19-5 before St. John's climbed back in the game, with a pair of threes that closed the margin to 25-15. The Hoyas shot 11 of 13 from the field down the stretch and took a 37-27 lead into the break, outrebounding the Redmen 26-10 and shooting 50 percent from the field overall.

Two quick baskets for the Hoyas opened the second half as Georgetown enjoyed a 41-27 lead 52 seconds into the period. The Redmen promptly locked down on defense and what had been a five man Georgetown scoring rotation soon devolved to two.

St. John's climbed back into the game with an unlikely weapon: the three point shot. Averaging only 29 percent from three in Big East play entering the game, two thee pointers in a 54 second span closed to 41-35 two minutes into th second half. SJU shot 5 for seven over a stretch which saw the Redmen outscore the Hoyas 12-2, with six points from Kadary Richmond after a scoreless first half. A Richmond layup brought SJU to 43-41, followed by an Aaron Scott three to put the redmen up 44-43.Off a Georgetown time out, Mack stepped out of bounds, whereupon Zuby Ejiofor drove inside, 46-43, a 19-2 run.

Georgetown staged a mini-comeback that ended suddenly. Two field goals by Peavy and one by Drew Fielder regained the lead at 50-46 with 9:265 to play, but two a third and fourth foul on Sorber within 21 seconds of each other stalled out the Hoyas, with no field goals over the following five minutes. St. John's wasn't much better, shooting 33 percent, but an aggressive effort on the board flipped the script from the first half and gave the Redmen multiple opportunities to retake the lead. The two teams shot a combined 1 for 14 entering the final five minutes of play, with free throws allowing SJU a 54-50 lead with 4:31 remaining. Georgetown's concerns were apparent just 10 seconds earlier, when Sorber suffered an elbow injury that had him sent to the medical area for treatment.

Georgetown trailed 56-52 with 3:52 remaining, but Mack's subsequent shot was blocked. He recovered for a three at the 2:49 mark, 56-55, but missed a three point attempt with 2:22 remaining and watched as reserve guard Simeon Wilcher, 1 for 7 on the evening, hit a three to put the Redmen up 59-55, and they were not challenged thereafter.

Georgetown's second half numbers were awful: 9 for 28 from field, with 7 of the 23 belonging to either Mack or Peavy. Thomas Sorber got one field goal attempt. GU was outrebounded 28-18 after halftime and was beaten despite St. John's shooting just 35 percent in the second half--eight three pointers, four in each half, proved timely. Georgetown managed one three after halftime and three overall, tying a season low.

Three numbers told the story of this game: 19, 26, and 37.

The 19 refers to the number of turnovers, which contributed to 20 St. John's points on the evening. This is the fourth time in the last six games where Georgetown has surrendered 19 turnovers, the most of any Big East school. The 21 refers to the total number of points scored after halftime, now averaging only 26 points per half in its last three losses. The 37 corresponds to the number of shots collectively taken by Mack and Peavy, which was quickly rendered ineffective by the St. John's defense. The two shot a combined 7 for 23 in the second half; the remainder of the team was a combined 2 for 6 after halftime.

The health of Jayden Epps and Thomas Sorber are major takeaways following this game. Epps played only 10 minutes and reinjured his leg late in the first half, according to reports. Sorber eventually returned late in the game but the elbow will bear watching.

"We'll bounce back," said Georgetown coach Ed Cooley in post-game remarks. "We're not very healthy right now. We haven't had the same lineup since December 14, when we played Syracuse. Not an excuse, but we're having a tough time scoring the ball right now."

The win brings St. John's to its best Big East start in 26 years; conversely, the loss was Georgetown's eighth consecutive to St. John's since 2020.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         37   4-12  1-5  2-3    4  6   1   13
Epps         10   1-5   0-1  2-2    3  0   0    4
Peavy        40   8-18  1-2  2-4    7  1   4   21 
Fielder      36   2-2   0-1  0-0   12  0   4    4 
Sorber       32   2-3   0-1  1-1   10  1   4    5
Reserves:  
Ca. Williams 15   0-0   0-0  0-0    2  0   3    0
Cu. Williams 24   4-4   1-4  0-0    1  1   0   11
Burks         6   0-0   0-0  0-0    0  0   1    0
Team Rebounds                       5
Injured: Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Fort, McKenna, Montgomery, Asadallah, 
Van Raaphorst, Diouf, Mulready
TOTALS      200  21-44 3-14 7-10   44 9  17    58



Tuesday's game marked the 125th game in the series between Georgetown and St. John's, begun in 1909. Here's a breakdown by decade.

  Home Away Neutral Totals
1909-10 0-0 0-1   0-1
1910-20 3-1 1-4   4-5
1920-30 1-0 0-0   1-0
1930-40 0-3 0-2   0-5
1940-50 0-1 1-2   1-3
1950-60 0-0 0-0   0-0
1960-70 0-3 0-2   0-5
1970-80 3-2 1-4 1-0 5-6
1980-90 4-6 9-5 2-0 14-11
1990-00 5-3 3-7   8-10
2000-10 5-1 3-6   8-7
2010-20 9-1 6-7   15-8
2020-25 1-3 0-5   1-8
Totals 30-24 24-44 3-0 57-68


 

Attendance: 17,168

1/12/25

After a decade of broadcasts which skated gingerly past the discussion of empty seats at Capital One Arena, Saturday was not that day.

In fact, the attendance was not simply dropped into the box score but was enthusiastically announced during the second half by Fox announcer Tim Brando, himself a veteran of more than a few sparsely attended games at Capital One Arena. The game drew 17,168, the largest crowd to any home game since a December 2, 2015 game versus Syracuse, the second largest crowd of any size since GU's last sellout of the downtown arena in March 2013, and the best student turnout of the season.

Coupled with the announced crowd of 3,827 who attended the Georgetown women's game versus #7 Connecticut at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast DC, this is conceivably the largest single day turnout across Georgetown athletics in Washington since the 1941 football home opener, which saw the Hoyas defeat Ole Miss 16-6 before 25,000 at Griffith Stadium.





 

Connecticut 68, Georgetown 60

1/11/25 Updated 9:45 pm EST

An 17-2 run to open the second half led the #9-ranked Connecticut Huskies to a 68-60 win over Georgetown at Capital One Arena.

POST-GAME COVERAGE

In a season with only three Saturday home games on the conference schedule, this was promoted as something special, and lived up to the advance billing. A crowd of 17,168 arrived early in a city that doesn't often do this, and welcomed the teal-clad Hoyas as they entered the court to battle the Huskies, which had won eight straight over GU since rejoining the Big East in 2020.

"Moments before Saturday afternoon's tip-off against No. 9 Connecticut, the energy throughout Capital One Arena was unmistakable, underscoring the magnitude of what an upset of the two-time defending national champion could represent for the rebuilding Hoyas," wrote the Washington Post.

"I thought the building, walking through the tunnel today, was just an awesome feeling with where the Georgetown program is and being able to play a great, big game on the road," said UConn coach Dan Hurley.

The game opened with a big-fight feel. Thomas Sorber scored two baskets on consecutive possessions, Malik Mack drove inside for a basket, and Micah Peavy picked up a steal and a dunk. Drew Fielder sank an open three to wow the crowd and put the Hoyas up early, 11-5.



UConn's defensive adjustments largely neutralized this trio for large portions of the game thereafter, as they shot a combined 2 for 13 the rest of the game. The Huskies opened the game 2 for 8 and trailed by six at the 12:47 mark before its offense kicked into gear.

A three pointer by Solomon Ball brought UConn to within three at the media time out, 13-10. Layups on its next three possessions brought UConn the lead at 17-13, and back to back threes by Jayden Ross and Aidan Mahaney pushed its lead to 23-17, scoring seven field goals in seven possessions. A jumper by Alex Karaban extended the lead to 25-17, a 12-4 run, before the Hoyas reversed the momentum.

Much of the Hoyas's rally took place during a period where Sorber sat with two early fouls. He returned midway in the half, with a free throw and a layup to bring Georgetown to 25-20 at the five minute mark. Consecutive UConn turnovers and a pair of free throws by Mack closed to 25-22. The Hoyas were within two on a Curtis Williams three, before the Huskies sank back to back threes, 33-25. A late three by Jayden Epps brought the Hoyas to four at the break, 35-31, shooting 44 percent from the field but allowing the Huskies six threes and 51 percent shooting overall.

Even down four, there was a lot of hopeful signs for the Hoyas, including no turnovers allowed in the final 10 minutes of the first half. A good second half start was essential for Georgetown, but Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley was having none of it. The Huskies turned up its defensive intensity immediately after the break and the young Hoyas were unprepared for what followed.

UConn opened the half with a Hassan Diarra layup, then forced consecutive turnovers by Malik Mack and Jayden Epps to go up 10 just 74 seconds into the half, 41-31, with Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley noting after the game that this was the moment from which Georgetown never recovered.

The Hoyas missed its first three shots of the half, and more to follow. Following a Sorber free throw, UConn went up 11 on a Solomon Ball jumper, up 14 when Ross fed Karaban for a top of the center three, and up 17 following a Sorber turnover when Diarra spotted Ross for an alley-oop dunk, 50-33. Just ten seconds later, Diarra picked off Epps at midcourt and fed Samson Johnson for a layup, 52-33, with Georgetown having yet to score a field goal.



"[It's] something we talked about since the summer. We've got to take it head on and exceed their physicality. We know it's the Big East and we've got to play through physicality, and we're going to get better at that for sure."
--Georgetown guard Malik Mack

At this point the Hoyas had few options, thanks to a relentless UConn defense that limited Sorber inside and disrupted perimeter passing, leaving players to try, albeit unsuccessfully, to drive to their basket on their own. Its first field goal of the second half came from Micah Peavy at the 14:01 mark, 52-35, and after an exchange of free throws, a corner three from Curtis Williams brought the Hoyas within 14, 53-39 at the 12 minute timeout.

As coaching goes, the next five minutes was vintage Hurley: an offensive rebound and put back, 55-39. A Mack turnover was converted into a Karaban three, 58-39. A Peavy turnover saw Tarris Reed set up Karaban for his third three of three half, 61-39. A Curtis Williams turnover at the 8:44 mark saw Karaban return the favor, setting up Reed for a dunk, 64-41. At the eight minute media timeout, GU was 2 for 11 from the field with eight turnovers.

If this was 2022, or 2023, or even 2024, the Hoyas would have folded its collective tent and watched the Huskies win by 30 or more. Over the prior three seasons, Georgetown had given up eight home losses of 20 or more points, including an 89-64 loss to the Huskies a year ago. Instead, these Hoyas made a statement of its own in the last eight minutes that it was ready to play to the end.

"What I am very, very proud of, is we got down pretty big, and we continued to fight and chip at that lead. I'm very proud of our men for that."
--Georgetown coach Ed Cooley

On Connecticut's first series out of the timeout, the Hoyas held the Huskies to a shot clock violation. On its next series, Sorber was blocked inside by Karaban, but Sorber regained possession and alertly fed Caleb Williams for a three, 64-44. A block by Sorber helped feed Peavy for a layup, 64-46, and GU closed to 15 with a Curtis Williams three at the 4:41 mark, 66-51. Georgetown forced four turnovers in a five minute run entering the final three minutes, which eventually saw the Hoyas outscore the Huskies 9-2 to the end the game, as UConn made only one of its final nine attempts from the field.

Individual matchups were all in the favor of the Huskies in this game. Malik Mack was overwhelmed by the defensive prowess of Hassan Diarra, shooting 3 for 12 with three second half turnovers. Without a healthy Jayden Epps (playing only six minutes after4r halftime), Mack was held in check at both ends of the court. A similar story was seen for Micah Peavy, held to 5 for 12 from the field, with one assist and five turnovers. Defensively, Georgetown struggled against Solomon Ball and Alex Karaban, who combined for seven threes and 34 combined points, with just three turnovers between them. Centers Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed combined for 10 rebounds and five of UConn's nine blocks, the second most allowed on the Hoyas since the end of the 2021-22 season.

Karaban played all 40 minutes, with 19 points (on 7-10 shooting), four assists and two blocks.

"This is the winningest player in college basketball, one of the greatest players in UConn history," Hurley said after the game. "We knew we'd get this type of response from him today, because this guy is one of the best players in college basketball."

While Connecticut proved the better team, the Hoyas definitely left some points on the able. Eight missed free throws proved painful, as were allowing 22 points off 15 GU turnovers. Shooting 33 percent in the second half, the Hoyas actually shot better from outside. Its 4 for 16 from inside the arc was awful, and were regularly denied inside. Sorber was less aggressive inside while in foul trouble, and UConn took full advantage: holding Georgetown to two dunks and four layups after halftime and neither from Sorber, who was 0-5 in the second half.

Curtis Williams led the Hoyas with 15 points off the bench, followed by 14 from Micah Peavy before fouling out with 3:26 remaining. The rest of the team shot a combined 10 for 31.

The Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         37   2-7   1-5  2-3    5  3   2    9
Peavy        35   5-11  0-1  4-8    5  1   5   14
Ca. Williams 20   0-2   1-2  0-0    1  1   0    3
Fielder      20   0-1   1-1  0-0    2  0   0    3
Sorber       34   3-8   0-1  3-6   10  4   2    9
Reserves:  
Epps         10   0-2   1-1  0-0    1  0   0    3
Cu. Williams 22   1-2   3-4  4-4    2  1   1   15
Burks        14   1-1   0-0  2-2    1  1   2    4 
Mulready      3   0-0   0-0  0-0    1  2   0    0
Team Rebounds                       3                
Injured: Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Fort, McKenna, Montgomery, Asadallah, 
Van Raaphorst, Diouf
TOTALS      200 12-34  7-15 15-23  31  13 12   60



 

Marquette 74, Georgetown 66

1/8/25

In its best 37 minutes of the 2024-25 season, the Georgetown Hoyas were every bit the match for the #7 Marquette Warriors Tuesday night before falling late, 74-66, at Fiserv Forum.

POST-GAME ARTICLES
For a second time in three games, the Hoyas were without Jayden Epps from the earlier knee injury suffered versus Seton Hall. Without Epps, defensive pressure would be placed on Malik Mack to run the GU offense and the experience of the Warriors was in evidence early in this game. The Hoyas began the game shooting 1 for 7 from the field and 4 of its first 12. Marquette led by seven at 15-8 six minutes into the first half when Georgetown switched to a matchup zone and saw a rapid change in fortunes. Over the succeeding eight minutes, Marquette shot just 3 for 12 while the younger Hoyas stunned the 15,756 at Fiserv Forum with one of its best runs all season.

The turnaround began with a flash: a Peavy steal and a basket, a Mack free throw from a technical foul, and a Sorber tip-in, all in a run of 33 seconds. A thee pointer by Jordan Burks gave GU a 19-17 lead, but Burks mouthed off to the adjacent Marquette bench and was saddled with a technical foul of his own. It didn't halt the Hoyas' momentum, however.

The Warriors continued to struggle to get good shots and its defense was unusually lax, giving the Hoyas ample opportunity to increase its lead. Field goals by Curtis Williams and Micah Peavy put the Hoyas up 23-18, extended by six straight from Peavy, 29-18, and a Mack jumper to go up 31-18 with 6:03 to halftime: a 23-3 run on the #7 team in the nation, with Georgetown shooting 10 for 12 during the run. A Chase Ross three ended a 14-0 Georgetown run, 31-21. The Hoyas led by as many as 14 at 35-21 before the Warriors closed to 38-29 at the half, shooting a season low 29 percent at the break.

The momentum Marquette carried into halftime was apparent from the opening of the second half. The Warriors scored the first seven points of to cut the deficit to 38-36 three minutes into the half, aided by game-low shooting by the Hoyas, opening 1 for 8 from the field. A 6-0 run capped by a David Joplin three pointer gave MU its first lead since early in the first half, 45-42, while baskets by Mack and Drew Fielder rescued the Hoyas from a frigid 1 for 14 start and retook the lead at 48-47.

The story of the second half was Chase Ross. The 6-5 guard scored 17 of his game high 27 points after halftime on 6 for 7 shooting, and defenders Malik Mack and Caleb Williams were largely unable to contain him. Ross didn't completely take over the game, however, as the Hoyas continued to keep the game close.

Neither team led by more than four points for the next eight minutes. Threes from Curtis Williams and Malik Mack returned the lead to GU, 58-56 with 7:53 to play, answered by a Ross layup to tie the score at 58. Free throws by Sorber tied the score at 60 with 4:26 remaining before Stevie Mitchell added two at the foul line following Mack's third foul, 62-60, with 4:06 to play. A David Joplin jumper was blocked by Sorber, and Mack found Fielder in the corner on its next possession, where the sophomore shook off a rough day from the field with a big three pointer to give Georgetown a 63-62 lead with 3:15 to play. Any best-case scenario entering this game would have hoped the Hoyas to just be close heading into the final three minutes, and that's just where they were.

Fielder's basket was Georgetown's last field goal for nearly three minutes, as the more experienced Warriors went to work at the foul line and the Hoyas stumbled late.

On the next series, Sorber blocked a layup attempt by Kam Jones to preserve its lead, but Fielder was picked off by Marquette center Ben Gold, and a pair of David Joplin free throws returned the lead to Marquette with 2:19 remaining, 64-63. Peavy split a pair of free throws to tie the score 10 seconds later, but Stevie Mitchell blew past Mack for a layup, 66-64, with 1:48 remaining.

Both teams missed three point attempts heading into the final minute, whereupon a whistle was called with 46 seconds as Ross attempted a steal from Mack. What was originally called a foul on Ross was actually a foul on Mack, and the video confirmed it as well, giving Ross two more at the line, 68-64. A moving screen called on Fielder and a Mack turnover that followed ended any serious hopes for a comeback, as the Warriors finished the game out at the line, where they shot 10 for 10 in the final 2:19.

The final does not detract from some impressive defensive efforts by the Hoyas.

Marquette's Kam Jones entered the game averaging 20 points a game in Big East play. After going 2-3 to start the game, Micah Peavy and the Georgetown defense held him to 0-3 for the remainder of the first half and 4 for 14 for the game, a season low. The Hoyas forced a season high 13 Marquette turnovers and outrebounded the Warriors 22-12 in the first half and 38-32 overall. The strong defensive effort couldn't overcome MU's defense, which forced 16 steals on the Hoyas and 19 GU turnovers overall, accounting for 20 of MU's 74 points on the evening.

Malik Mack led the Hoyas with 18 points, albeit with six turnovers. Thomas Sorber had 11 points and 13 rebounds, but Marquette kept him out of the paint and limited him to just two shots after halftime. For its part, Georgetown shot just 31 percent after halftime (9 for 29) but an even worse mark inside the arc, where it missed many close-in shots and was just 5 for 18 from two point range after the break. A total of 21 Georgetown fouls yielded 23 of 27 from the line for Marquette, where they were 17 for 18 after halftime.

The win elevated Marquette to 4-0 in Big East play for the first time in 15 years.

"Not having Epps is a major, major blow to us," said head coach Ed Cooley in post-game comments. "No excuse, because we were right there, but if you look at the overall picture of where our team is, how hard these men fought today, I couldn't be more proud."

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         39   4-10  3-7  1-2    2  5   4   18
Peavy        40   5-11  0-1  3-4    6  4   4   13
Ca. Williams 26   0-1   0-2  0-0    5  0   5    0
Fielder      19   1-4   1-2  1-1    5  1   2    6
Sorber       35   3-5   0-0  5-5   13  3   4   11
Reserves:  
Cu. Williams 26   2-2   2-5  0-0    3  0   0   10
Burks        15   1-3   2-2  0-0    2  0   2    8
Team Rebounds                       2                
Injured: Epps, Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Fort, McKenna, Montgomery, Asadallah, 
Van Raaphorst, Diouf, Mulready
TOTALS      200  16-36  8-19 10-12 38  13  21  66

 

Broadnax Retires From Coaching

1/7/25

Former Georgetown basketball player Horace Broadnax (B'86) announced a mid-season retirement Monday evening as head coach of Savannah State University.

POST-GAME ARTICLES
"The experience here has been very rewarding and I am extremely excited for my future as well as the future of the program," he said.

In a 27 year coaching career which began at Valencia (FL) Junior College and included stops at Bethune Cookman and Savannah State, Broadnax had a cumulative record of 338-428 and 309-397 at Savannah State, inclusive of wins vacated during two periods where the school was cited for failure to monitor its athletic certification process. He took over at SSU in 2004 following an 0-28 season, leading the Tigers to a MEAC regular season title and a NIT bid in 2011-12. The school downgraded to Division II after the 2018-19 season.

A late evening announcement of this kind is unusual, and the Tigers' 5-6 record to date is not, on its own, a harbinger of trouble. If Broadnax was forced out, it wasn't noted as such.

In a statement, SSU athletic director Opio Mashariki said "We thank Coach Broadnax for his leadership of the men's basketball program here at Savannah State. I have immense respect and gratitude for everything Coach Broadnax has done, we congratulate him on his retirement and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors." Broadnax's bio is no longer on the school's web site.

The Florida state player of the year in 1982, Broadnax played four seasons at Georgetown, averaging 5.8 points a game. He earned a law degree from Florida State in 1992 and remains a practicing attorney.

 

AP Top 25: One Vote

1/6/25

For the first time since 2021, Georgetown received a single vote in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The vote came from Johnny Congdon, sports reporter at WBMA-TV in Birmingham, AL.

That's not enough to be ranked (Georgetown's last Top 25 ranking was the week of March 16, 2015), its but first "also receiving votes" recognition since March 15, 2021. Marquette and Connecticut remain in the Top 25, while St. John's (27 votes), Georgetown (1), and Xavier (1) are also noted.

 

Georgetown 69, Xavier 63

Updated 1/4/25

A season high 26 points from Malik Mack led the Georgetown Hoyas to its most prominent win of the Ed Cooley era, holding off Xavier 69-63 before 6,640 at Capital One Arena.

POST-GAME COVERAGE  
The Hoyas never trailed in this game, thanks in part to an icy start by the visiting Musketeers. Xavier opened the game shooting 1 for 11 as GU took an early 11-4 lead, but battled back in the game with the returning Zach Freemantle, who had been sidelined with an injury following the Dec. 14 game versus Cincinnati. From a 19-6 deficit midway in the first half, Xavier fought back to close to 26-24 in the final two minutes of the first half, but back to back baskets by Micah Peavy brought the Hoyas to 30-24 at halftime, fortunate that Xavier had struggled from outside, shooting 1 for 10 at the break.

Free throws would be a running subplot in the second half. Xavier closed to 35-32 at the first media time out of the second half, but Xavier coach Sean Miller decided to take up an argument with the officials, costing Xavier two foul shots on a technical foul. Following the change in possession, Sorber missed a three but Caleb Williams scored an alert offensive rebound that resulted in a jumper and a 39-32 lead.

Down 12 midway in the second half, the Musketeers began to find favor at the three point line, with a run of long range baskets over a three minute period to narrow the margin to six, 53-47. Malik Mack answered with nine straight points as the Hoyas maintained its own momentum.

"Our goal is to try to get better each and every game. I thought we really, really grew up today."
--Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley

Following a steal and a three pointer by Caleb Williams to put the Hoyas up 58-49 with 6:18 remaining, the Musketeers battled back in an 7-0 run. Baskets by Zach Freemantle and Dailyn Swain closed Xavier to 58-56, but Swain missed a free throw to close to one at the five minute mark. Caleb Williams and Drew Fielder each missed front ends of a one and one that hurt the Hoyas, but a pair of misses by the Musketeers to tie the score were no less costly.

Following the Fielder miss at the line, Jerome Hunter split a pair at the line, 58-57. Following a collision that briefly shook up Georgetown's Thomas Sorber and Xavier's Ryan Conwell, Sorber recovered for two free throws, 60-57. Swain forced a turnover and drove for a basket and a foul at the 2:52 market, but missed the free throw, 60-59, at the 2:52 mark. It was as close as the X-men would get thereafter.

On Georgetown's next possession, Peavy drove inside for a layup, 62-59. Off a missed three from McKnight, Mack fed a driving Sorber inside, 64-59. Xavier missed six of its final seven attempts to end the game.

The Hoyas needed every bit of its starters in this game, who combined for 90 of a possible 100 minutes in the second half. Mack scored 20 of his 26 points after halftime, and Caleb Williams had six of his nine rebounds after the break. Jayden Epps played four minutes in the first half and did not score.



Georgetown shot 50 percent from the field after halftime and 44 percent overall, but its defense is the story of this one. The Hoyas held the nation's #7-ranked team in three point shooting percentage to 26 percent on 5 for 19 from the field, and held a team with 36 assists over its two prior games to just eight tonight.

Freemantle's return was a welcome development for the Musketeers. He finished with 16 points and seven rebounds to lead all Xavier scorers, and helped limit Sorber to just six points after halftime. Dailyn Swain scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half, but that missed free throw late kept the Musketeers from tying the score.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:


            MIN   2FG   3FG  FT   REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:    
Mack         35   5-7   3-9  7-9    2  3   3   26  
Peavy        39   7-12  0-2  1-2   10  2   4   15 
Ca. Williams 36   2-4   1-2  0-1    9  1   4    7
Fielder      27   2-3   0-1  1-4    7  0   4    5
Sorber       35   5-10  0-2  2-3    5  2   2   12
Reserves:  
Epps          4   0-0   0-0  0-0    1  1   0    0
Cu. Williams 10   0-2   0-2  1-2    1  2   0    1
Burks        13   0-0   0-0  3-4    4  0   5    3
Team Rebounds                       1                
Injured: Halaifonua, Moses
DNP: Fort, McKenna, Montgomery, Asadallah, 
Van Raaphorst, Diouf, Mulready
TOTALS      200 21-38  4-18 15-25  40 11  22   69