On a night when Georgetown had only seven scholarship players available, Tyler Beard was forced into the rotation and had a emerged with 23 points Wednesday, sparking the Hoyas to an 85-73 victory over visiting city foe Howard in Washington, D.C.
Beard, a freshman who entered averaging just nine minutes of action and having scored just 14 points in his career, hit 7 of 9 shots from the floor in 30 minutes off the bench.
Georgetown (6-4) got 15 points from Collin Holloway, 14 points and eight rebounds from Donald Carey, and a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds from Malcolm Wilson.
The Hoyas were shorthanded as their top 3-point shooter Kaiden Rice and Jalin Billingsley were sidelined by non-COVID illness. Two other players didn’t dress for unspecified reasons.
In addition, top scorer and rebounder Aminu Mohammed had just four points and seven boards in 22 minutes before fouling out.
But in a run-and-gun affair bearing no resemblance to any game Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing played during his years as a Hoya All-American, the Hoyas made 55.2% of their shots from the floor and 43.8% from beyond the arc.
Howard (5-5) came out aggressively, pressing full court and substituting freely. The tactics appeared to rattle Georgetown in the first half when the hosts committed 12 turnovers.
The Bison charged to a 31-22 lead with Kyle Foster sinking seven 3-pointers on his way to a 26-point night. Tai Bibbs scored 16 points, and Elijah Hawkins (11 points, five assists) directed the offense to keep Howard in the game.
But Beard came off the bench midway through the first half and made an immediate impact, hitting a 3-pointer and following with a putback. Later in the half, he culminated a 19-4 run with a 3-pointer as the Hoyas took the lead for good.
Georgetown led at the half, 46-39, and quickly pushed the lead to 13 points.
Yet, Howard scrapped back, pulling to within four points on a 3-pointer by Sam Green with 14:59 remaining.
Beard answered with a 3 of his own to trigger a 9-1 Georgetown run that he fueled with seven of the points. The spree gave the Hoyas a comfortable cushion that they maintained the rest of the way.
-Field Level Media