Caleb Daniels scored 20 points as Villanova beat Georgetown 73-57 on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.
With the loss, the Hoyas (5-11, 0-5 Big East) set a Big East record with their 25th straight regular-season conference defeat. Their last such win came on March 2, 2021, a 72-66 win over Xavier.
Brandon Slater and Mark Armstrong both had 14 points and Eric Dixon had 10 for the Wildcats (8-7, 2-2), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Jordan Riley led Georgetown with 12 points off the bench, while Akok Akok logged 11 points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Primo Spears paced the offense with nine assists.
For the second straight game, the Hoyas played a competitive first half but came out punchless in the second frame en route to a convincing loss.
After controlling most of a first half that ended with the teams tied at 35-35, Georgetown missed 12 of their first 14 shots in the second while Villanova connected on four triples throughout a 22-8 burst to open the period. Cam Whitmore’s jumper with 9:20 to go capped the surge.
Already without an injured Jay Heath, the Hoyas’ scoring options further dwindled after Brandon Murray left the game with an injured right shoulder with Georgetown trailing 42-38.
The Hoyas shot a putrid 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) in the second half and scored just two of their 22 points in the paint after the break.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats canned 12 of 26 second-half shots (46.2 percent) and made all 18 of their free throws for the game.
Georgetown relied on efficient offense and physicality to lead for most of the first half, shooting 15-for-31 (48.4 percent) and holding a 20-10 advantage in points in the paint.
Two of those points came on Murray’s vicious right-handed tomahawk over Jordan Longino to put the Hoyas ahead 14-10 following the ensuing free throw.
Longino went down with an apparent left leg injury after he slipped on the court with 1:59 remaining in the half and didn’t return. He finished with three points in 11 minutes.
Villanova made just five shots in the game’s first 14 minutes and relied on 8-for-8 shooting from the foul line to keep pace until a 6-0 run late in the period helped them pull even at halftime.
–Field Level Media