NEW YORK – Despite a second half that saw the Hoyas shoot 50 percent from the floor and outscoring their opponents by nine, the sixth-seeded Georgetown University men's basketball team could not overcome a first half deficit in a 73-57 loss to #3 Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals on Thursday evening at Madison Square Garden. The Hoyas fall to 19-13 on the season.
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) led the Hoyas with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior center
Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) led the Blue & Gray on the glass as he pulled down seven rebounds and tallied a game-best three rejections. The Hoyas shot 42.9 percent for the game and the GU bench outperformed the Pirates 16-2.
Seton Hall (19-12) got out to the 4-2 lead but the lead swung back to the Hoyas behind three-straight buckets, one apiece from
Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City), Govan and Akinjo. The lead was short-lived as SHU tallied eight unanswered for the four-point advantage. A
Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) dunk ended the scoring drought as the Blue & Gray closed the gap to two but the Pirates claimed 10 of the next 12 for a 22-12 advantage.
The Hoyas tried to chip away at the lead but SHU kept pushing and went up by as many as 28 late in the half before Georgetown closed the frame on three-straight points to trail 53-28 at the break.
Georgetown opened on a pair of buckets from its senior class with Govan and
Kaleb Johnson (South Hill, Va. / The Carlisle School) contributing one apiece. Staying even in the frame through the first few minutes, the Hoyas were able to string together a 12-0 run sparked by an Akinjo bucket and capped with a
Trey Mourning (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades) hook shot to pull within 14.
The game went back and forth but 14 was as close the Blue & Gray would get as the Pirates claimed the 73-57 victory.
Seton Hall's Myles Powell led the squad with 31 points. The Pirates shot 41.0 percent (25 of 61) from the field.
