Overview

 A brilliant performance in his homecoming to the District of Columbia from freshman guard Acaden Lewis helped carry Villanova past Georgetown 80-73 on Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena. Lewis carried the Wildcats' offense in the final minutes and hit a pair of dagger 3-pointers after the Hoyas had cut the Villanova lead to 71-69

 "Those were hard shots that Acaden hit," said Georgetown coach Ed Cooley. "They came at the end of the shot clock and were contested."

 "I have the utmost confidence in him," added Villanova head coach Kevin Willard. "He is progressing just the way you want a freshman to progress. He's been great at getting everyone involved. Tonight, we needed him to score and he did that."

 Asked if those late 3's were called plays Willard said: "he just read it and went."

 Lewis connected on 11-of-15 field goals for a career-high 26 points. The Sidwell Friends alumnus added six assists while Duke Brennan contributed his 10^th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

 Points Came Quickly

 Lewis opened the scoring for the Wildcats, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key to shave an early 4-0 Hoyas' lead to 4-3. The pace was quick as Georgetown amassed an 18-15 lead after 6:24 of the period. A chunk of that lead came courtesy of free throws, as GU sank 7-of-8 from the line in that span while the Wildcats attempted just one.

 Freshman center Braden Pierce contributed four points, a pair of assists and a rebound in that span.

 Georgetown held that advantage thanks to an offense that drained 8-of-11 from the field (.727) in the first 9:30. Freshman guard Chris Jeffrey scored off a drive to the goal to slash the margin to 24-21.

 "I thought Braden and Chris both gave us good minutes today," noted Willard.

 A 6-0 burst by the Wildcats was capped by a Brennan basket to give VU its first lead of the day. But a K.J. Lewis basket put Georgetown back in front, 28-27, at the 7:30 mark of the first half.

 Hoyas Held Their Lead

 Georgetown was able to push its lead to 37-31 with 3:04 left in the period. Willard signaled for a timeout at that juncture.

 While Brennan and Lewis were able to do some offensive damage inside – VU enjoyed a 20-16 edge in points in the paint – the perimeter was less kind to the Wildcats. Nova was 3-of-13 from distance (.231) and 10-of-14 from inside it.

 Villanova narrowed its deficit to 37-35 before a Kayvaughn Mulready 3-pointer from the corner made it a 40-35 Hoyas' lead. A Lewis drive and score with 1.4 seconds left made it a 40-37 VU deficit after 20 minutes.

 Brennan led the Wildcats with 10 points and seven boards at the break. Lewis had nine points and three assists. Lewis topped Georgetown with 10 points. Both teams attempted 11 free throws. The Hoyas nine successful attempts accounted for the margin as VU sank six.

 Part Two

 Three-pointers from Matt Hodge and Tyler Perkins gave Villanova the lead briefly before Georgetown scored six straight points, including three on a Mack deep shot to regain the advantage, 50-44, with 15:28 to play in the second half.

 Triples on consecutive possessions from Malachi Palmer helped Nova forge a tie at 50. Another Perkins deep ball gave Villanova a 55-52 edge before the Hoyas answered with a pair of free throws. A short Perkins' jumper off a Brennan feed with just under 11 minutes to play gave VU a 59-54 lead over the Hoyas.

 Five straight points from Mack, including a difficult contested 3-pointer, tied the game at 64. Lewis scored on consecutive possessions for VU sandwiched around a Hoya bucket to put Villanova up 68-66 with 5:16 left.

 Then came those two enormous late 3-pointers that gave Villanova control to improve its BIG EAST road record to 5-1.

 What They Said

 Willard on Brennan: "Duke's been a warrior. I knew that he was going to be good, but he's been a warrior all year. He's out there every night battling."