Villanova

Wildcats, winners of seven consecutive games against the Hoyas, Villanova’s longest streak in a series that dates to 1922.

“I’m just happy to be on this side of it. I’ve been on the other side. I feel for those guys, because we’ve been there,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

“Patrick’s doing a great job with this program. They’re very organized. They know what they want to do,” Wright said. “And he’s going to build this thing.”

The last time Ewing faced Villanova in any capacity was in the last game of his college playing career at Georgetown, a surprising 66-64 victory for the underdog Wildcats in the 1985 NCAA championship game. It was quite clear, quite quickly, on Wednesday that there would be no such tight outcome —nor any chance of an upset by Georgetown (12-6, 2-5).

Villanova went on an 18-0 tear to go ahead 31-8 and that was that for any semblance of drama.

“This is our first game where we were just blown out from the beginning,” said Jessie Govan, who led the Hoyas with 12 points.

Aided by a 1-2-2 press that Brunson said he thought “may have got to them a little bit,” Villanova led 42-20 at halftime. Until then, Georgetown had more turnovers (nine) than made baskets, shooting 8 for 26, including 0 for 8 on 3s.

Asked about the 18-point run, Ewing replied: “I don’t even remember.”

This is his first season as a head coach at any level, and he opted to go with an easy-as-can-be non-conference schedule to try to build his players’ confidence. Now that league play is underway, especially against a foe like Villanova, the gap between the Hoyas and the best teams is obvious.

Villanova just kept pushing the margin after the break, going up by 30, then 40, and then reaching the apex at 88-44 on a layup by Dhamir CosbyRoundtree with about 3½ minutes remaining. Less than a minute later, Wright finally sent on the subs and pulled any remaining starters.

“It’s always fun,” Brunson said, “when our team’s making shots.”

BIG PICTURE

VILLANOVA » Since its only loss, 101-93 at Butler on Dec. 30, Villanova has won four games in a row, propelled by an efficient offense that gets a lot of its work done from beyond the arc. GEORGETOWN » This was the Hoyas’ largest margin of defeat since a 33-point loss to Maryland, 104-71, on Dec. 10, 1974.