Final Score: Georgetown 75, Villanova 73
 
Overview
 
Georgetown used a 15-4 burst over the final minutes to capture a 75-73 victory Tuesday night here in the regular season finale. The Wildcats held a 69-60 lead with 4:01 to play before a couple of critical turnovers helped ignite the Hoyas late burst.
 
"I thought the turnovers really hurt us," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "It gave them some life and they were able to take advantage of them. Credit to Georgetown. They gave us some different looks."
 
After being held without a point in the first half, Eric Dixon nearly lifted the Wildcats to the win as he had done last week at Seton Hall. Dixon finished with 24 points, all after intermission.
 
Jordan Longino added 17 points.
 
A Jayden Epps driving layup snapped the 73 tie with five seconds left. A Longino 3-point attempt at the horn bounced off the rim.
 
Points Were Hard to Come By
 
Villanova scored five of the game's first seven points before a Hoyas' 3-pointer tied things at five. A nifty drive to the goal and finish by Wooga Poplar put the Wildcats on top at the first official break of the evening at the 15:33 mark of the first half. A Micah Peavy step back basket on the next possession deadlocked matters at seven.
 
A 2-3 Georgetown defense was able to stymie the Wildcats, who were 3-of-11 in the opening 8:10 of the contest, including 0-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Hoyas held a 12-9 lead. A corner jumper by Jordann Dumont gave Villanova its first points from deep, tying the game at 12.
 
Hoyas Hounded Dixon
 
Georgetown threw a number of different looks at the nation's leading scorer, Eric Dixon in the first half. He was held off the scoresheet for most of the period.
 
But Villanova got its offense from other places. Jordan Longino supplied six points and Enoch Boakye was a force on the interior, contributing four points and grabbing nine caroms in the game's first 15:48.
 
Georgetown, on the strength of five triples, held a 23-22 lead over the Wildcats.
 
The game was tied at 29 at halftime. Dixon was held without a point in a period for the first time this season.
 
'Cats Answer the Hoyas' Flurry
 
The Hoyas sank their first three field goal attempts of the period, kicking off an 8-0 burst that gave them the lead. The Wildcats got 3-pointers from Dixon and Longino but Georgetown came right back to push the advantage to 43-35 at the 14:26 mark of the second half.
 
In fact, the Hoyas sank 5-of-7 from deep to begin the second half, pushing the margin to 46-37.
 
Villanova, though, got a couple of defensive stops and when Dixon dropped in a 3-pointer in front of the Wildcats' bench, the Hoyas' lead was 46-45. An official timeout came at the 11:55 mark of the second half. A few moments later, the contest was tied at 47.
 
Dixon Dialed In
 
With Micah Peavy fueling the Georgetown offense, Dixon heated up at the other end. As the contest approached the eight minute mark, the graduate student from Willow Grove, Pa., had scored 17 of Nova's 26 points in the half. When Dixon drained a left wing 3-pointer, Villanova was back on top, 58-57.
 
When Tyler Perkins sank a left wing 3-pointer, Villanova was up 63-60. There was 6:17 to play on the second half clock.
 
The Wildcats added six straight points, capped by a Boakye slam off a feed from Longino. A Malik Mack 3-pointer got the Hoyas back to wthin 69-63 with 3:23 on the clock. Mack followed that with a steal that led to a pair of Georgetown free throws, closing the gap to 69-65. Georgetown got another stop and a slam to close to within 69-67. There was 2:06 to play in the second half.
 
Dixon sank two free throws but Georgetown came right back and the game was tied at 71 with 1:13 on the clock. After the Wildcats missed on a 3-pointer, the Hoyas found a cutting Jordan Burks for a dunk to reclaim the lead at 73-71. There were 32.9 seconds to play.
 
Up Next
 
The Wildcats now await the start of the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament which gets underway at New York's Madison Square Garden next Wednesday, March 12.