Georgetown roars past slow-starting 'Nova
WASHINGTON - The target on Villanova's back appears to get larger when the Wildcats rise higher in the polls, and Georgetown came out Monday night with a purpose and made headlines by knocking off the No. 4 team in the country at the Verizon Center.
WASHINGTON - The target on Villanova's back appears to get larger when the Wildcats rise higher in the polls, and Georgetown came out Monday night with a purpose and made headlines by knocking off the No. 4 team in the country at the Verizon Center.
The Hoyas blitzed the Wildcats with a 17-0 run in the first half, grew the lead to as high as 26 points and fought off a mild comeback try by 'Nova in the second half to run away with a 78-58 upset that knocked the visitors out of first place in the Big East.
The Wildcats (17-2, 4-2) established season lows for points, field goals made (14) and field-goal percentage (34.1). The 20-point loss proved to be the largest margin in a Big East Conference game this season.
Villanova very nearly was run out of the building in the first half when a scoreless drought of more than seven minutes, 27 percent shooting and 10 turnovers combined to put the Cats in a 22-point hole, 42-20, at halftime.
Villanova could get only as close as 12 points in the second half, the last time at 62-50 on two free throws by JayVaughn Pinkston with just over eight minutes to play. But the Wildcats managed just two field goals and eight points the rest of the way.
"Losing is not a surprise; the way we played was a surprise," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We came here with great respect for them and we knew it would be a battle. But they really played well. We saw the best of them tonight."
Ryan Arcidiacono was the only Villanova shooter who could be classified as hot, draining 4 of 6 from beyond the arc and scoring 16 points. But he lamented his team's effort, particularly on defense, where the Hoyas (13-5, 5-2), who took over first place in the conference, knocked down 51 percent of their shots overall, and 50 percent from three-point range.
"We knew they were capable of that, they have good shooters on that team," said Arcidiacono, who focused on offense and went without an assist for the first time this season. "The problem was that instead of making them take tough shots, the shots they took were not tough. We didn't play hard enough to contest their shots."
The Wildcats committed 17 turnovers, or six more than they had committed in the previous two games combined. Georgetown scored 24 points off those miscues.
"We were sloppy tonight," Wright said. "We turned the ball over, we missed defensive assignments. They were very impressive in transition."
As it turned out, the first half put Villanova in too much of a hole. The 17-0 run, during which 'Nova did not score for 7 minutes, 16 seconds, gave Georgetown a 19-point lead. The margin was 22 at the half and 26 a little more than two minutes into the second half.
The Wildcats scrapped and hustled to narrow the gap but couldn't threaten. The Hoyas went on a 6-0 run led by freshman Isaac Copeland, who scored 17 after coming into the game with a 4.5-point average.
"Any time you're down and you're trying to press and speed up the game, you're going to get fatigued," Wright said. "You've got to give Georgetown credit. They were aggressive with the lead. They continued to drive the ball."
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera also scored 17 points for the Hoyas. Fellow guard Jabril Trawick contributed 10.
One Bad Half
Villanova trailed Georgetown, 42-20, at halftime.
It was the Wildcats' lowest-scoring half of the season.
'Nova did not score a basket for the first 6:05.EndText
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