Georgetown men’s basketball (16-12, 7-10 BIG EAST) lost by double digits to the UConn Huskies (19-9, 11-6 BIG EAST) 93-79 on Feb. 26. Once again graduate guard Micah Peavy was excellent for the Hoyas, but it wasn’t enough against the high powered UConn offense.
Much as they have on a number of occasions this year, the Hoyas got off to a hot start. Led by Peavy, the Hoyas made four threes on four attempts in the games early minutes, quickly amassing a 14-4 lead and forcing a timeout from the two-time defending national champions. But not to be outdone, UConn sophomore guard Solo Ball responded with two triples of his own as well as a putback and the Huskies got back into the game with a 12-2 flurry.
Without the services of freshman forward Thomas Sorber, among others, again, the Hoyas struggled to contain the Huskies inside, as junior center Tarris Reed Jr. was able to leave his imprint on the game, most notably by getting Georgetown sophomore forward Drew Fielder into early foul trouble. Now only up 16-14, the Hoyas would battle back and forth with the Huskies until a 10-0 UConn run put the Huskies in front for the first time all game at 35-29.
With the game slipping away, Peavy and junior guard Jayden Epps would put the Hoyas on their back. First a circus double-clutch midrange shot by Peavy, then a 30-foot three pointer with the shot clock expiring by Epps and the Hoyas were able to pull within two at 37-35. Once again though, Ball, Reed Jr., and freshman forward Liam McNeeley would press once again to build the lead back to 42-35 by halftime. After making each of their first four threes of the game, the Hoyas were just 1-of-8 the rest of the period. By half Epps, Ball and Reed Jr. led the game with 11 points while Peavy had 10.
After struggling to make shots down the stretch of the first half, the Hoyas figured it out at the start of half two. With nine makes to just two misses, the Hoyas came out on fire on the offensive end. Unfortunately for Georgetown though, it was all for naught.
With just a minute-and-a-half elapsed in the second half, Fielder picked up his fourth foul. After scoring eight points in the ensuing three minutes, he would be called for his fifth, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-4 from the field as UConn used a 12-0 free throw disparity to expand their lead despite the Hoya charge. You read that right, 12-0, the fouls 6-1 in favor of the home team. Despite the best efforts of Peavy—he even attempted the Hoyas’ first free throw of the half after eight minutes of play—UConn just could not be slowed with the officiating disparity and a decisive edge on the boards. Coming out of the under-12 media timeout the Huskies’ lead grew to 66-56.
Now down double digits, Peavy would continue to do his usual superman act, almost single handedly keeping the game from falling completely out of reach. Once again the Hoyas star guard would exceed 20 points with plenty of time to play.
With time running lower and lower, the Huskies, staying true to their DNA, kept their foot on the gas, getting the lead out past 15 points with 5 minutes to play, extending their rebounding margin advantage to over a dozen. While the Hoyas were finally able to get to the line late, the game was all but over down 84-69.
Despite playing with four fouls most of the half, sophomore forward Jordan Burks was able to join the trio of Hoya-starters in double figures. While their starters scored in bunches, the Hoyas were only able to get four points from their bench on this night, as outside of freshman guard Kayvaun Mulready making his first career triple, there was not much to celebrate from the bench’s performance. Still with 2 minutes left, the usually stout Hoya defense had now given up 90 points. At the final buzzer the Hoyas were downed, 93-79. Peavy led the game with 25 while Ball and Reed Jr. led five Huskies in double figures with 20 apiece.
Next, the Hoyas come home to try and regain momentum against the Marquette Golden Eagles (21-7, 12-5 BIG EAST) on Mar. 1 at 8:00 p.m. EST at Capital One Arena. The game will be broadcast on Peacock. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
