The Georgetown Hoyas (13-11, 5-8 BIG EAST) fell 80-73 to the Villanova Wildcats (18-5, 9-3 BIG EAST) at Capital One Arena on Saturday, Feb. 7. The Hoyas, coming off a four game winning streak, looked to boost their BIG EAST ranking. Prior to the game, the Hoyas were placed sixth in the conference—solidly in the middle—just a few weeks after lying at the bottom. The loss, however, marks yet another example of Georgetown playing a team close then coming up just short.
The Hoyas started the game hot and put the Wildcats on their heels. The Hoyas won the tip-off and got fouled just seconds into the game on a fastbreak layup that put sophomore forward Isaiah Abraham at the line to score the first points of the game. On their next trip down the floor, the Hoyas drew yet another foul. Not only were the Hoyas drawing fouls—five in the first six and a half minutes—but they were converting their free throws. By the first media time out, the score was 17-15, Georgetown.
In the first part of the half, the Hoyas put on an offensive clinic. With a shooting percentage above 60%, Georgetown found the back of the net even through contact. The Hoyas shot 11 free throws in the first half, making 81%.
While the Hoyas were scoring well, the Wildcats refused to let them extend their lead by more than five points. The Hoya lead never felt comfortable, and Georgetown failed to convert defensive efforts into points. Their few steals ended in missed fastbreak layups. The need for stronger defense became apparent as the Hoyas’ shooting began to cool off towards the end of the first half.
Georgetown put together a solid first half, but the last five minutes saw some slippage of what was otherwise a superb performance. Once their shots stopped falling and a couple of calls went Villanova’s way, the rest of the Hoyas’ play worsened. An off-ball foul on sophomore forward Jayden Fort, a bad-pass turnover by sophomore center Julius Halaifonua, and a hard foul by Abraham on Villanova’s leading scorer senior forward Duke Brennan kept the Hoyas from entering the second half with a comfortable lead.
Though the Hoyas had fans on their feet, Villanova quieted Capital One Arena at the end of the half. Six-foot-two freshman guard Acaden Lewis managed to score a sweet reverse layup over seven-foot-one senior center Vince Iwuchukwu to bring the score to 40-37at the half.
To start the second half, Villanova came out shooting. A pair of threes by redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge and junior guard Tyler Perkins gave Villanova their first lead of the game. Villanova’s shooting stayed strong, but Georgetown was able to keep it close.
For the Hoyas, the story of the second half was junior guard Malik Mack. While he was quiet in the first half, Mack made his presence known in the second—scoring almost 10 points in the first 10 minutes. With six and a half minutes left in the game, he scored an off-balance three to tie the game at 64, sending fans to their feet. The following possession, a pretty assist to Iwuchukwu, put the pressure on the Wildcats.
Despite Mack’s efforts, Villanova freshman Lewis was ready to handle the heat. Lewis ended the game with 26 points, and his offensive performance was key to the Wildcats’ success. He had Hoya defenders chasing him around the court. A pair of clutch three pointers and successful free throws at the end of the game maintained the Wildcat’s lead and cut off Georgetown’s attempts to come back.
To end the game, the Hoyas were down by eight with 1:45 left. Iwuchukwu gave the Hoyas a glimmer of hope by knocking down free throws and clutching up on defensive rebounds. Villanova’s free throw shooting also kept the Hoyas in it—they shot 50% from the line all game, and missed several important ones at the end. However, the Hoyas were unable to convert on Villanova’s misses, and both Mack and Georgetown’s Lewis went ice-cold on their shooting and missed three-pointers that could have put the Hoyas back in it. In the end, the Wildcats were able to hang on for an 80-73 win over the Hoyas.
In the post-game press conference, head coach Ed Cooley acknowledged the performance of Villanova’s Lewis, but argued that Georgetown gave up the game themselves through simple mental mistakes like unforced turnovers. Cooley cited the 23 points that Villanova scored off turnovers, and remarked that Georgetown “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” won.
“We did not execute our way into victory, we tried to play our way into victory,” Cooley said.
The Hoyas go on the road to take on the University of Connecticut Huskies (22-2, 12-1 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Feb. 14. This game is a rematch of the Jan. 17 meeting between these teams where Georgetown lost 62-64. The Hoyas will return to Capital One to face the Butler Bulldogs (13-10, 4-8 BIG EAST) on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Your Exclusive Baby Race Recap
If this game was the Super Bowl, then the baby race was our Bad Bunny—the reason half the fans were even watching the game. 10 six-to-10 month old babies, or more specifically their parents, answered the call to participate in a baby race at halftime. The babies lined up with the goal of crawling about 30 feet to their parents.
Unfortunately, as soon as the announcer said go, the babies were crying, laying face-down, and notably, not crawling. Rather than a Baby Race, it was much more of a Baby Sit on the Floor While Their Parents Did Everything Possible to Get Them to Move Bonanza.
The most frequent form of motivation was parents throwing their phones, hoping the babies would crawl to them. However, in what might be a glimmer of hope for the future of Generation Beta, even the devices containing Cocomelon were not enough to motivate the babies.
In the end, baby Katherine in lane nine moved the farthest before time ran out. She made it almost halfway to her mom, or about twelve feet from where she started. Her win gave her a $100 gift card to the Tombs, though the stadium announcer emphasized that the prize was for her parents, not Katherine herself.
