Georgetown men’s basketball (18-15, 7-13 BIG EAST) used a second half comeback to down the Washington State Cougars (19-14, 8-10 WCC) 85-82 on March 31 in Las Vegas. Despite being down multiple key players due to illness, the excellence of sophomore guard Malik Mack and the collective fight of the Hoyas remaining roster were just able to propel them to the second round of the College Basketball Crown tournament.
The big story in this one may have been what happened on the court, but it started with what happened off of it. Just an hour before tipoff, it was announced that a “health incident” had caused the Hoyas to be down multiple players. While this would already be a problem normally, the Hoyas were down to their last five scholarship players thanks to Georgetown’s long-standing injury issues and the transfer portal departure of sophomore forward Drew Fielder. On the other side, the Cougars were also down key players as well, having lost two of their top three scorers to the portal since the regular season’s end.
To start the game off, the Hoyas were certainly playing like a team with one remaining big man, sophomore forward Jordan Burks, finding themselves in an early 12-6 hole as Washington State scored at will. Only a three each from Mack and freshman forward Caleb Williams kept the Hoyas from falling out of this one early. The Cougars dominated the Hoyas on the board in the first few minutes, and were able to successfully hunt for fouls, sending redshirt freshman forward Drew McKenna to the bench with two quick fouls, then sophomore forward Austin Montgomery with the same only a minute later. By the halfway point of the first half, the fouls were 6-0 in favor of Washington State.
After a 7-0 run out of the under-8 media timeout, the Cougars found themselves with their largest lead of the game at 35-25. Fortunately for Georgetown, Mack was not going to let Georgetown fail so soon. In less than two minutes, Mack went on a solo 9-0 run, hitting three three’s in a row (the first two with his shoe untied), as the Hoyas roared back into the game. At this point in the game Mack had 20 of the Hoyas 34 points on only 10 shots and 5-of-7 from distance;staggering efficiency. But just as they did for much of the game, Washington State continued to take advantage of the Hoyas’ defense inside, building a 22-8 advantage in points in the paint. But while the Hoyas still struggled to stop the Wazzu two’s they did start competing harder and harder on the glass despite being undersized compared to their competition.
With time winding down, a Mongomery triple gave the Hoyas their first lead since 3-2 at 39-38, but a 4-0 Washington State run gave the Cougars the three point advantage into the half. It was a fairly balanced scoring attack for Washington State in the first half, with senior forward Ethan Price and freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson leading the way with 10 points a piece. For the Hoyas, Mack led the game with 20, and Burks stuffed the stat sheet with 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, but non-Mack Hoyas were an anemic 7-of-26 from the field and 4-of-13 from three on the day to that point. Even more appalling, Georgetown actually *led* the game in bench points at the half with three to Washington State’s zero.
Into the second half, Mack stayed on his mission, nailing a sixth three of the game to pull the Hoyas within one in the early stages, but a 8-0 Cougar run once again had the Hoyas playing catch-up. With Wazzu selling their soul to prevent Mack buckets, guarding him tightly out to about 27-feet from the basket, the other remaining Hoyas needed to step up to get Georgetown back in the game, and get Georgetown back in the game they did. Williams had the majority of his career high 13 points in the second half, as well as McKenna with his career high 9 points. Of the Hoya starters, only Curtis Williams Jr. struggled to get going, finishing with only 7 points on 15 shot attempts. Burks continued his standout game as well, even rolling in a big triple to keep Georgetown within reach. Despite Mack only being able to find two points in the next seven minutes of action after going down 53-44, the Hoyas collective effort was able to keep them in range as Mack got going again with 9 minutes to play bringing the game to one possession at 65-62. Mack now had 27 points on the night, and he was far from done.
A Mack drive knotted the game at 72 with five minutes to play, and free throws from Williams gave the Hoyas their first lead since 39-38. Now playing from ahead, critical buckets by Mack and McKenna gave the Hoyas just enough breathing room down the stretch, and a fantastic effort by Burks on the boards actually gave the Hoyas the overall advantage in that department as Georgetowns took a one possession lead at 82-79. Some tactical fouls later, and the score now 85-82, the Cougars had one final chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but a good-looking three-point shot at the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the rim and the Hoyas survived, 85-82. Mack finished with 37 points, Burks chipped in 16 points and 13 big rebounds as the Hoyas continued their Crown pursuit into the next round.
Next, the Hoyas continue into the second round of Crown action against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-14, 7-13 B10) on April 2 at 9:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on FS1. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
