WASHINGTON, D.C. – Georgetown rode an efficient offensive night and strong work on the glass to an 85-73 victory over Villanova in a BIG EAST game Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
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Seniors
Phil Booth (26 points) and
Eric Paschall (16 points) paced the Wildcats, who dropped to 20-7 overall, 11-3 BIG EAST. A total of 10 different Georgetown players scored and seven sank at least one 3-point field goal. Freshman Mac McClung and senior Jessie Govan each scored 21 points to lead the Hoyas.
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The Hoyas out-rebounded the 'Cats by a 39-33 margin. Villanova was 9-of-38 from beyond the 3-point arc (.237) while Georgetown sank 11-of-28 (.393).
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"That was a really strong performance by Georgetown," stated Villanova head coach
Jay Wright. "They did a great job. McClung did a great job early. I felt like we got good shots early but we couldn't make them. Then McClung got hot.
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"There were a couple of possessions there where we had a chance to keep them to a two or four point lead and then Govan gets an offensive rebound. There were a lot of little things like that they did a good job of."
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Georgetown (16-10 overall, 6-7 BIG EAST) jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the game's first six minutes, with McClung and James Akinje sinking a trio of 3-pointers. By the midpoint of the first half, the Hoyas were 11-of-18 from the field (.611) and 4-of-10 from distance to build a 26-19 lead.
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Booth and Paschall were helping to keep their team in striking distance. The pair teamed up for 17 of the Wildcats first 22 points to narrow the gap to 26-22 at the U8 break in the first half.
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But the Hoyas used the interior work of Govan and the perimeter shooting of McClung to stretch the margin to 34-26 at the 3:45 mark of the first half. Georgetown's work on the backboards – it owned a 14-8 rebounding advantage at that stage of the contest supplemented a 12-8 edge on points in the paint.
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An 8-0 run by the Hoyas late in the period pushed the lead to 42-28 with 1:06 to play. The Wildcats scored the final four points of the half to shave the deficit to 42-32 at the break.
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Booth supplied 15 points in the first 20 minutes for VU while Paschall added eight points. McClung, meanwhile, had 17 first half points for the Hoyas, who connected on 15-of-29 (.517) from the field while the 'Cats were 11-of-28 (.393).
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 "You've got to give Georgetown credit for making a lot of the little plays – loose balls, offensive rebounds," noted Wright.
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"We had a few lapses," stated Booth of the Villanova defense. "McClung got going and Govan got it going. There were a couple of lapses here and there and they're a real good team. That's what happens when you have those against a real good team."
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 The Wildcats were able to string together a series of defensive stops early in the second period and got to within seven points but Georgetown's Govan answered inside with six points. After the senior sank a free throw at the 15:48, the Hoyas lead was restored to 10, 50-40.
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 Georgetown then went on an 8-0 burst, capped by a Govan 3-pointer, to build their biggest lead of the night, 58-43. There was 13:11 on the clock.
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 Villanova kept battling but couldn't solve the riddle of the glass. That helped the Hoyas gain an 11-1 advantage in second chance points and generate extra possessions.
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 The Hoyas moved in front 73-54 with 5:05 to play. The Wildcats generated some stops with pressure but in the end it wasn't enough to surmount the deficit. The final count favored Georgetown 85-73.
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On Sunday Villanova visits Xavier at 1:30 p.m. at the Cintas Center (CBS and 610 Sports Radio) in its next action on the BIG EAST schedule.
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