Georgetown is set to host Villanova on Wednesday evening in a traditional Big East meeting in Washington, D.C., as both teams aim to bounce back following a loss.
The Wildcats look to return to the win column after a setback to Marquette, while the Hoyas seek their first regular-season conference win in 25 tries following their worst loss of the season against Butler.
Villanova (7-7, 1-2 Big East) fell to the Golden Eagles 68-66 at home on Saturday night after being held scoreless for the game’s final 3:42. But even after consecutive defeats, the Wildcats believe they’re finding their identity and inching closer to a midseason surge.
“I think the next step for us is just (working) on every little detail,” Villanova guard Caleb Daniels said. “I think we are turning a corner in terms of doing what we do: playing Villanova basketball. If we pump it up a little bit, take it to another level, I think we’ll be fine.”
Daniels shares the team lead in points per game at 16.0 with forward Eric Dixon, whose 6.3 rebounds per game lead the Wildcats.
Georgetown (5-10, 0-4) returns to the court after an 80-51 shellacking at the hands of visiting Butler on Sunday. The Hoyas shot 7 of 34 (20.6 percent) from the field in the second half and were outscored 42-21 after the break. Their 51 points and 28.8 percent overall field-goal percentage both were season lows.
“We have to just keep on working at it and keep on watching tape,” Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing said. “We as coaches have to do a better job of giving them a better game plan to execute.”
Primo Spears orchestrates the Hoyas’ offense with a team-high 16.0 points and 4.9 assists per game, while Qudus Wahab’s 9.3 rebounds per game during Big East play ranks fourth-best in the conference entering Tuesday’s play.
Georgetown will have to find ways to score without Jay Heath (13.4 points), who is out indefinitely after having surgery on his left hand following an injury in the Dec. 29 loss at DePaul.
Wednesday’s showdown is the 84th all-time meeting between Georgetown and Villanova. The Wildcats took a 42-41 series lead by sweeping the Hoyas last season.
–Field Level Media