WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's basketball team hit 11 3-pointers and shot 50.9 percent from the floor en route to an 85-73 upset over the visiting No. 17/16 Villanova, handing the Wildcats just their seventh loss of the season. The win marks the first victory over a ranked opponent during Head Coach Patrick Ewing's tenure and snaps a nine-game losing streak dating back to the 2015 campaign against the Wildcats. With the win, Georgetown improves to 16-10 on the season with a 6-7 mark in BIG EAST Conference play.
 
Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) and Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City) led the Hoyas with 21 points apiece as Govan went 8 of 12 from the field and McClung nailed a quartet of 3-pointers – both were perfect from the charity stripe combining for a 9-of-9 effort. James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) rounded out those in double figures with 10 points. Govan tallied his eighth double-double of the season with a team-best 11 rebounds. Akinjo's nine assists paced the offense as the Hoyas recorded 23 assists in the contest. Georgetown shot 50.9 percent (29 of 57) from the field and the GU bench outperformed Villanova 22-9.
 
"Coming off of two losses … it stung," Head Coach Patrick Ewing said. "This was a must win for us in my opinion, and against a very good team."
 
The game was a back-and-forth affair to start with neither team leading by more than two points by the first media timeout. Trailing 8-7, Georgetown scored eight unanswered fueled by GU's freshman class with triples from McClung and Akinjo as well as a commanding dunk from Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy). Villanova closed to four but a Govan layup provided some breathing room as the Blue & Gray led 17-11. The Wildcats hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 12:36 to play.
 
Despite the 'Cats closing the gap to two, Kaleb Johnson (South Hill, Va. / The Carlisle School) came up with the layup and after VU's retort, it was Johnson again with the layup. Trey Mourning (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades) extended GU's advantage to 23-17 on a long jumper. Both teams continued to hit shots but McClung drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to seven but VU answered right back with a triple of its own. Playing from downtown, McClung hit a trey from the right side to give the Hoyas a comfortable 29-22 lead.
 
Villanova made the conventional three-point play but on the other end, it was McClung again from deep, making the shot, drawing the foul and completing the rare four-point play with the Blue & Gray leading 32-25. As the game slowed down with trips to the charity stripe, Akinjo gave the Hoyas a double-digit lead with a 3-pointer from the right side to propel Georgetown to a 39-28 advantage. With 1:07 to play, Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy) hit a triple of his own to push the lead to 14 and force a Villanova timeout. The Wildcats closed the gap to 10 as the Hoyas led 42-32 at the break.
 
With both squads slow to start the second frame, Georgetown looked to veteran Govan for a spark that came in the form of back-to-back three-point plays to push the lead back to double digits 50-40. McClung and Akinjo each floated in jumpers to regain the double-digit advantage and a through-the-legs dish from Akinjo resulted in a Govan triple to push GU's lead to 15.
 
With the 'Cats staging an 8-2 run to close to single digits, the Hoyas looked to Mourning on the right side who knocked down his 3-pointer for the 63-51 lead. A VU bucket cut the gap to 10 until Greg Malinowski (Chantilly, Va. / Episcopal / William & Mary) drained one from downtown off the Jahvon Blair (Brampton, Ontario / Athlete Institute Prep) helper. With 6:23 remaining Georgetown used solid ball movement around the court and Malinowski found an open Blair who took one step and found the bottom of the net for the 16-point advantage 69-53.
 
The game slowed down as whistles blew on both ends but the crowd was on its feet when GU forced the turnover and McClung put the ball in the hands of Govan for the dunk and the 77-60 lead. Another Govan dunk with less than a minute on the clock and a Malinowski free throw were the final GU points of the game and provided the 85-73 score at the final whistle.
 
Villanova's Phil Booth led the squad with 26 points. The 17th-ranked Wildcats (20-7, 11-3 BIG EAST) shot 38.5 percent (25 of 65) from the field.
 
Georgetown returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 23 as the Hoyas travel to Omaha to face Creighton. Tipoff at the CHI Health Center is set for 2:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen live on FOX. Fans can listen locally on The Team 980 and nationally on SiriusXM with Rich Chvotkin calling the action.
 
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