Preview: Georgetown at No. 4 Villanova

Game 29: Georgetown Hoyas (15-13, 5-12) at No. 4 Villanova Wildcats (26-4, 13-4)

When & Where: Saturday 5pm, Wells Fargo Center

Series: Georgetown leads 44-37

Last Meeting: Jan 17, 2018 - Villanova 88, Georgetown 56

TV: Fox (Brian Anderson, Donny Marshall)

KenPom Prediction: Villanova 89, Georgetown 69 (96 percent)

Line: Villanova -18.5

Georgetown closes out the regular season with a trip up to Philadelphia to face long time rivals Villanova on Saturday. The first meeting between these two schools wasn’t competitive as then-No.1 Villanova led by as many as 44 points before the Hoyas scored the final 12 points of the game.

Jessie Govan continues to lead the Hoyas in both points (17.1) and rebounds (10.1) and is in line to become the first Georgetown player to average a double-double since Mike Sweetney did so in the 2002-03 season.

Marcus Derrickson has proven to be equally as valuable by putting up 15.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while leading the Hoyas in scoring in BIG EAST contests.

Freshmen Jamorko Pickett and Jahvon Blair average just under 10 pointers per game and have combined to hit more 3-pointers than any other first year duo in Hoyas history.

Georgetown is locked into the 8 seed in next week’s BIG EAST tournament and will most likely face St. John’s - more on that below.

Villanova is led by Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges with 19.1 and 17.4 points per game respectively. The Wildcats need to beat Georgetown and hope that DePaul upsets No. 3 Xavier in order to win the BIG EAST regular season for the fifth consecutive season.

If DePaul were to beat Xavier and St. John’s loses at Providence, Georgetown would face the Blue Demons in the 8/9 game on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

The Hoyas have lost five straight games at Villanova, each by double figures. The last time Georgetown won at Villanova was in 2011 when Austin Freeman had a game high 30 points.

Current Streaks

The Hoyas will be trying to end quite a few streaks as heavy underdogs on Saturday in the City of Brotherly Love.

Georgetown has ended the last two regular seasons on six and five game losing streaks respectively. Georgetown is currently on a three-game losing streak and needs to beat Villanova to avoid ending the regular season on a losing streak for a third straight year.

The Hoyas are currently 0-4 against Top 25 teams this season and have lost their last seven games against ranked foes going back to last season. Georgetown has defeated at least one ranked school in the previous 13 straight seasons. The last time Georgetown failed to defeat at least one ranked opponent in a season was back in the 2003-04 campaign when the Hoyas went 0-4.

None of the players that will suit up for Georgetown on Saturday have beaten Villanova. The Hoyas have lost six straight regular season games to Villanova and seven overall including the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal.

Prediction: Villanova 87, Georgetown 72