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Xavier Hands Hoyas 19th Conference Loss in Finale of a Not-So-Regular Season

On the wrong end of an early run, Georgetown was just too far gone

By whipple
NCAA Basketball: Georgetown at Xavier The Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY NETWORK

And so it goes. The Georgetown Hoyas fall to 0-19 for the conference record with, not a bang, but a whimper. The Xavier Musketeers (18-12, 8-11) snapped a five-game skid by beating the Hoyas (6-24, 0-19) 97-75. With 12:25 left in the first half, Aminu Mohammed slammed home a dunk off of a Don Carey assist, to bring Georgetown within three points, 16-19. However, Xavier then proceeded to go on 14-0 run that kept the Hoyas at a safe distance for the remainder of the game.

The Hoyas had a decent second half offensively, shooting 18-34 from the field and 4-10 from beyond, but a 9-31 (29%) effort shooting from the field in the first half (1-10 from three) killed them. In the first, Aminu Mohammed and Dante Harris shot 2-6 and 2-7 respectively, but came back at 4-10 and 6-7 in the second, respectively—with Harris shooting 3-4 from three in the latter half. The Hoyas had 6 assists in the second half and 8 in the game, total. Xavier had 17 assists in the first and only 15 assists in the second half.

Xavier’s first-half hot shooting of 65% from the floor (17-26) and 64% from the arc (9-14) further demonstrated the continued defensive woes. Sill, the Musketeers’ 5-11 three-point shooting and 18-38 from three exhibited signs that, despite everything, the Hoyas didn’t give up.

For the conference season, Georgetown shot 41.7% from two (318-762, 11th place) and 31.4% from three (133-423). BIG EAST opponents were 179-472 from three (37.9%, 11th) and 364-646 from two (56.3%, 11th) against the Hoyas. Despite the inadequacies for making shots buckets and limiting opponent buckets, the Hoyas still had the 37th highest Adjusted Tempo in the nation, per KenPom.com, and the second highest in the conference (behind St. John’s).

Here is the press release from GUHoyas:

Hoyas Fall in Regular Season Finale at Xavier

CINCINNATI – The Georgetown University men’s basketball team fell 97-75 to the Xavier University Musketeers in the final game of the regular season on Saturday evening at the Cintas Center.

ON THE RECORD

“We’re definitely disappointed in our season but it is what it is, we just have to prepare ourselves for the BIG EAST Tournament. It’s a new season and anything is possible. You go through the whole regular season to get to this point. We can still salvage ourselves with a great run in the tournament.” - Head Coach Patrick Ewing on the season

HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

  • Dante Harris paced three Hoyas in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor with three triples.
  • Collin Holloway scored 17 points, shooting 75% (6-8) from the field to go with a quartet of free throws. He also registered four boards, two assists and a pair of steals.
  • Aminu Mohammed logged his 10th double-double of the season, posting 15 points and 16 rebounds to go with a pair of blocks.
  • The Hoyas (6-24, 0-19 BE) shot 41.5% from the floor (52.9% 2H) but allowed 54.7% shooting to the hosts.
  • Georgetown outscored Xavier (18-12, 8-11 BE) in the paint (26-22) and on second chance opportunities (11-8) but struggled defending the perimeter.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Harris tallied the first bucket for the second straight game before Holloway rattled off eight straight to take a 10-9 lead (15:45).
  • Mohammed and Donald Carey scored three apiece to keep it a one-possession game, 19-16 (12:25).
  • Xavier hit its stride over the next 12 minutes, keeping the Hoyas at bay and taking a 54-30 lead into the break.
  • Rice dunked for the first Hoya tally of the half before both teams exchanged buckets over the first five minutes of the half (66-44).
  • Carey and Harris combined for a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 66-48 (14:28).
  • The Hoyas rallied with eight unanswered and slashed the Xavier lead to as little as 15 (75-60) with less than 10 minutes to play.
  • Both teams traded blows over the final 10 minutes but the Musketeers were too much for the Hoyas, falling 97-75.

UP NEXT

  • Georgetown will head home to prepare for the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP. The Hoyas are the #11 seed and will face the #6 seed Seton Hall on Wednesday, March 9 with tipoff slated for 9:30 p.m. The four-day conference tournament will be held March 9-12 at Madison Square Garden, the World’s Most Famous Arena. The Hoyas won the 2021 tournament for their conference-leading eighth BIG EAST tournament title.

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