Overview
 
Georgetown outscored Villanova 43-33 in the second half Thursday night to eliminate the No. 3 seeded Wildcats 78-64 from the BIG EAST Tournament at New York's Madison Square Garden.
 
The Hoyas connected on .508 of their field goal attempts and owned a 46-25 rebounding advantage in notching their second win in as many nights at this event.
 
"I thought late in the first half a little bit of our offense affected our defense," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard of a stretch where the Hoyas turned an 8-point deficit into a four-point lead at halftime. "That was the first time all year our offense kind of shifted to our defense instead of the other way around."
 
The Wildcats closed to within 51-49 midway through the period but a 10-2 Georgetown spurt gave the Hoyas control of the contest.
 
Willard credited Georgetown coach Ed Cooley.
 
"Ed's done a great job all year with this team," Willard stated. "They have eight losses of four points or less. They beat Clemson, went to Maryland and won. Before the big guy got hurt, they were playing well. This is a good basketball team."
 
Boards and Steals
 
The Wildcats got a short jumper from Bryce Lindsay and then a nice backdoor pass from Duke Brennan to Malachi Palmer made it a fast 4-0 start for the 'Cats. But Georgetown responded by scoring eight straight points before a triple from Lindsay cut the gap to 8-7. A 6-2 advantage on the glass in the opening 4:18 allowed the Hoyas to claim a 10-8 edge at the first official timeout of the night.
 
The game was deadlocked at 15 at the 11:50 mark and two columns on the statistics sheet were noteworthy. The Hoyas held a 10-2 edge on the glass while the Wildcats forced eight Georgetown turnovers at the defensive end.
 
A 3-pointer from Lindsay on the left wing capped a 9-3 burst from Villanova, which led 24-18 with 8:15 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats were credited with seven assists on their first 10 field goals.
 
Lindsay provided a major lift, scoring 11 of Villanova's first 29 points to help it build a 29-21 lead. However, Georgetown's Julius Halaifonua was a force for the Hoyas inside, scoring 14 points on a series of mid-range baskets to help the Hoyas close the deficit to 29-27. By night's end he would finish with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Hoyas Finish with a Flurry
 
Georgetown used a 14-2 spurt over the final five minutes of the period to grab a 35-31 lead at the break. Villanova connected on just one field goal in the span – a short jumper by Devin Askew – while the Hoyas were able to string together points from the perimeter to complement what they were getting on the interior.
 
The Wildcats were 13-of-36 from the field in the half (.361), including 4-of-15 (.267) from beyond the arc. Georgetown owned a 24-14 advantage on the boards and a 10-2 edge in second half points.
 
Second Act
 
Georgetown scored six of the first nine points of the second half, moving on top 41-34 ahead of a Wildcats' timeout at the 16:44 mark. Halaifonua again did damage on the interior while Nova connected on 1-of-4 field goal attempts in the opening minutes of the period.
 
The Wildcats fought their way back with Tyler Perkins and Askew dropping in clutch 3-pointers to shave the deficit to 51-49 with 12:16 left on the clock. Georgetown hit 7-of-11 from the field in those opening minutes.
 
Georgetown then used a 10-2 burst to move on top 61-51 with 8:20 to play. Corner 3-pointers on consecutive possessions by GU's Kayvaun Mulready expanded the lead to 67-53 with 5:32 left on the clock.
 
The final count was 78-64.
 
What They Said
 
Willard on the next steps for his team: "I've got to help the young guys out a little bit in these games. We struggled a little bit to run offense when Malachi wasn't in there. We kind of got stuck going a little bit one-on-one. That's kind of what I mean. I've got to help them out a little bit by not putting them in that situation. With Malachi and (injured) Matt (Hodge), we were able to do a little bit more."