Georgetown out-executes Villanova in upset win
Georgetown rallies to oust hobbled Villanova in Big East stunner
Villanova did plenty on Thursday to compensate for the loss of Collin Gillespie at the Big East Tournament.
But what the Wildcats didn’t do, as they’ve done for years with and without their injured senior point guard, was execute late to finish the job.
Two free throws by Dante Harris with five seconds left and a running 32-footer by Caleb Daniels that clanged back iron led No. 8 seed Georgetown to a 72-71 upset win over top-seeded Villanova.
It was Villanova’s first loss in the Big East tournament since the 2016 final and the first time the Wildcats have lost their first game in Madison Square Garden since 2014.
Their last loss to Georgetown (11-12) was on Feb. 20, 2019. Patrick Ewing’s team is in the Big East semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Villanova had its opportunities, even before Jeremiah Robinson-Earl made only one of two free throws at the line with 19 seconds left to put them up one. Nova led by 11 points with 8:53 to play at 61-50, then checked a 13-1 Georgetown run with back-to-back triples by Cole Swider and Robinson-Earl to go up 70-65 with 1:30 left.
“Credit to Georgetown. They played great,” Wildcats coach Jay Wright said. “It was a great college basketball game and I just thought they played really well. Down the stretch it got down to a onepossession game and they executed those last two possessions a little bit better than us.”
Georgetown wouldn’t go away, particularly at the line, where it went 23-for-23, a Big East tournament record. Villanova was 14-for-22, including two missed front-ends down the stretch.
The 14th-ranked Wildcats (16-5) otherwise performed well without Collin Gillespie, one of their two Big East Tri-Players of the Year (with Robinson-Earl and Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall). They got a boost from Justin Moore, who had been ruled doubtful with a high ankle sprain. Wright said Moore didn’t practice Wednesday but looked so good in warmups that he was able to give it a go. He provided 10 points and 27 minutes Thursday before fouling out.
“It was everything, especially battling through injury,” Jermaine Samuels said of Moore. “That wasn’t easy for him. But he’s just a different player and his mindset is unique. We’re really grateful he came out there and played hard for us.”
In his first career college start, Chris Arcidiacono subbed in ably with three points, four assists, five rebounds and no turnovers in the face of a Georgetown three-quarter-court trap. Arcidiacono logged 34 minutes; he’d played all of 36 minutes in nearly two seasons before the last game against Providence. Villanova committed just six turnovers and allowed zero fastbreak points.
For the first 30-some minutes, the Wildcats were following the path to the post to get points on the board. They finished with 30 points in the paint, tied for the seventhmost in a game this season. But they had 28 with 11:40 to play and went away from it late, despite Georgetown forward Chudier Bile fouling out with 7:28 to play and Qudus Wahab also fouling out.
“When they started pressing when they were down, we just didn’t get the ball where we wanted to,” Wright said. “Once they started pressing, we got some shots, but we didn’t get the ball inside to Jeremiah and Jermaine like we wanted to, and I thought that made a difference.”
“Anytime we can get inside the post, it’s great for us,” Samuels said. “We can make a lot of plays out of there. From the beginning we wanted to do that and I thought we did that.”
Villanova had to weather early shooting woes, missing
11 of their first 12 longballs and shooting 3-for-19 from range in the first half. They evened out in the second to finish 9-for-30.
But subtract Samuels’
4-for-11 and the supporting cast was 5-for-19 from deep.
Robinson-Earl led the way with 26 points and six rebounds. Samuels, who with Swider was one of only two
Wildcats with Big East tourney experience, scored 20 points and grabbed seven boards.
Harris led Georgetown with 18 points. Wahab added 17. Jahvon Blaire, whose triple with 5:05 to go nudged the Hoyas in front 63-62, scored 14 points, and Jamorko Pickett paired 12 points with eight rebounds.
For the first time in a while, the Wildcats will have a long time to think about their first NCAA game, one with likely an unfavorable seed.
“They really executed their game plan well,” Robinson-Earl said. “We just needed to be better defensively, but I think we did a great job playing hard out there tonight and we’ve just got to keep playing a full 40 minutes and just keep a great attitude and look forward to the NCAA tournament.”