This is an official Georgetown Athletic Department report. It can be found at GUHoya.com
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Hoyas Fall to Xavier in BIG EAST Opener
WASHINGTON – The Georgetown men’s basketball team dropped its BIG EAST Conference opener 102-89 to Xavier on Friday night. With the setback at Capital One Arena, the Hoyas slip to 5-7 and 0-1 in BE action on the season while the Musketeers improve to 9-3 and 1-0 in conference.
ON THE RECORD
“We let them get hot and when you give up 50 points in the paint, when you let 11 second chance points and 17 fast break points you know all of those things hurt. On the other end – you know we scored 89 points and usually when you score 89 points you have an opportunity to win.” – Head Coach Patrick Ewing on the Xavier game
“My role is just to be more of a leader and be more vocal and just keep the confidence of our guys up. We still have a lot of games left this season so we are definitely going to keep working and try our best every game.” – Qudus Wahab on his role as a veteran on the team
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS
● For the second-consecutive game, Primo Spears led the Hoyas in scoring with 22 points . The sophomore was one of a quartet of Hoyas in double-figure scoring, going 8-of-16 (50.0%) from the field, including a 2-for-3 effort from beyond the arc, while chipping in a pair of steals.
● Qudus Wahab tallied 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go along with a squad-best seven boards.
● Brandon Murray tallied 15 points and paced the offense with six assists and added a pair of steals.
● Jay Heath rounded out those in double figures with 13 points and three assists while recording a pair of steals.
● The Hoyas shot 51.6% (32-62) from the floor but allowed 60.3% (41-68) shooting from the Musketeers.
● XU owned the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Hoyas 41-27.
● Georgetown forced 11 turnovers and committed just six of its own.
HOW IT HAPPENED
● Despite Xavier leading by as many as eight early in the first half (12-4, 16:29), Georgetown answered with six-straight points on a Spears second-chance bucket sandwiched between a pair of Jay Heath jumpers to cut the deficit to two (12-10).
● Both teams traded buckets but the Hoyas tied the game at 17 (on an emphatic Bradley Ezewiro dunk off the dish from Wayne Bristol Jr.)
● XU would build up the lead again (43-34, 1:07) as the GU offense cooled off but the Blue & Gray closed the half on four-straight points. The mini run was fueled by Wahab’s fifth bucket of the game and a pair of Spears free throws as GU went into the locker room trailing 43-38.
● The Musketeers came out of the break hot and their lead ballooned to 13 (72-59, 12:06) but the Hoyas staged a 14-5 run with six points from Bristol Jr. to cut the deficit to four (77-73, 8:45) and forced an XU timeout.
● Xavier found the answer in Souley Boum as he managed an 8-0 run of his own to extend the XU lead back to 12. Despite late buckets from the Hoya backcourt, the Musketeers cruised to the 102-89 victory.
UP NEXT
The Hoyas hit the road as they continue BIG EAST play on Tuesday, December 20 with a trip to Storrs, Connecticut to face the No. 3 UConn Huskies. Tipoff at Gampel Pavilion is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Tim Brando calling the play-by-play and Bill Raftery providing analysis. Fans can hear the radio call of Rich Chvotkin, in his 49th season as the Voice of the Hoyas, on The Team 980.
