Georgetown men’s basketball (15-9, 6-7 BIG EAST) won by double digits against the Seton Hall Pirates (6-18, 1-12 BIG EAST) 60-46 at Capital One Arena on Feb. 8. Once again graduate guard Micah Peavy shined brilliantly as the Hoyas grabbed a much needed win at home.
Coming into today, Seton Hall had not won a game in a full calendar month, but you could not tell based on how the Pirates opened the game. Hall blitzed the Hoyas early, forcing tough shots on defense and doing just enough on offense to build an 8-2 lead in the first five minutes. In particular, sophomore guard Malachi Coleman played a big role for the Pirates all day long, and in the first half, he led his team with 11 points.
Fortunately for Georgetown, they had freshman forward Thomas Sorber and especially Peavy. Sorber and Peavy scored all of the Hoyas’ first 11 points as they came back from their early deficit. Despite not starting the game after being bothered by injury since the Hoyas’ last matchup with Seton Hall on Dec. 22, junior guard Jayden Epps did come in off the bench in this one. He became the third Hoya on the board after making a big three-pointer out of the under-12 timeout to bring the Hoyas within one, 15-14.
The game remained close for a while, with Seton Hall up a couple points for the next eight minutes as Coleman and Peavy dueled. However, Georgetown then mounted a 16-4 run over the final five minutes of the half to take control of the game. With just under four minutes of play left in the first, freshman forward Caleb Williams made a transition layup giving Georgetown their first lead of the game at 23-22. Coleman, as he often did, responded with a big basket (a three this time), but once again the Hoyas went to Williams who responded with a three of his own. From there, the Hoyas had a stop, Peavy got to the rim again, and a steal off the inbound led to a Sorber dunk that had the Hoyas up six in a heartbeat. The Pirates tried to respond with a dunk of their own, but two straight Peavy buckets to close out the period sent Georgetown into half up 34-26. Peavy led the game at the break with 15 loud points.
Much as they did to start the first half, the Pirates’ starters gained an early advantage over the Georgetown starters, opening the half on a 7-2 run. But just as he did in the first, Peavy buoyed the Hoyas, scoring their next five, keeping the Hoyas with a two possession cushion into the under-12 at 41-37.
Peavy had help this half though, as Sorber, Williams, and others got into the fray too. On this day, it took a village to match the excellence of Coleman, as he scored time and time again, often in dazzling fashion, to keep the Pirates in the game down the stretch. Without him getting to the rim, though, the Seton Hall offense couldn’t muster much, with repeated shot clock violations forced by the Georgetown defense. With just under four minutes left in the match, the Hoyas’ lead stood at 52-45.
After another near shot clock violation for Seton Hall, Williams hit perhaps one of the biggest shots of his young career with a step back three to give the Hoyas their biggest lead of the night at ten. By a timeout with just under two minutes left, the Hoyas were in control and the crowd felt energized. Back-to-back steals by Peavy and Sorber sent the crowd into a frenzy and put this one on ice. Chants of “one more year” rang out as Sorber took to the free throw line for the final time. As the final buzzer sounded, the Hoyas had won 60-46. Peavy led the game with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, Sorber had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Williams 12 points. Coleman had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Pirates.
After the game, multiple Hoyas, including Sorber and freshman guard Kayvaun Mulready hung around by the tunnel to give autographs to some of the young fans in attendance.
Next, the Hoyas head on the road to take on the Butler Bulldogs (10-13, 3-9 BIG EAST) on Feb 15. at 2:00 p.m. EST at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on FS1. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
