CINCINNATI – In a game that came down to the final shot, the Georgetown University men's basketball team couldn't find the last-second heroics as the Hoyas fell 92-91 to the Xavier University Musketeers on Friday night. With the loss, Georgetown slips to 8-10 on the season and 1-6 in BIG EAST play while Xavier improves to 10-8 on the year and 4-3 in league action, winning its third in a row.
 
ON THE RECORD
"Today I saw a Georgetown team really grow up. I saw a team really, really grow up. I thought we competed at an elite level in an incredible and hostile atmosphere … We weren't fortunate today but what I'm proud of is the growth and development of our young men from game one to game 18. And that's the process. And sometimes in the process, there's going to be several disappointments but the growth and the development of our young men and their fight and their will – it's easy to come in in a transition and just wilt. Our young men grew up today. I'm super, super proud, this is the best we have played all year … The courage of our men was big time today. We just came up a little bit short and you've got to give Xavier all the credit. They made all the plays down the stretch."
 - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Jayden Epps led all scorers with 32 points, his fourth 30-point game of the season, on 9-of-19 shooting and a perfect 11-for-11 performance from the charity stripe, to go along with a career-best matching 11 assists for the first double-double of his career. Epps tallied 23 of his 32 points in the second half.
• Jay Heath, who made his way back into the starting lineup, tallied 16 points, adding six rebounds and six assists while chipping in a pair of steals.
• Dontrez Styles recorded 14 points and grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds for his third double-double on the year and the third of his career.
• Supreme Cook managed 13 points on an efficient 5-for-6 effort from the floor to go along with eight rebounds.
• Drew Fielder added a trio of blocks.
• Georgetown shot 42.9% (30-70) for the game, including an 11-for-23 performance from beyond the arc but allowed the Musketeers 50.0% (32-64) shooting for the game.
• The Hoyas narrowly outrebounded the Musketeers 38-36 and totaled 21 points on 15 offensive rebounds.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hoyas jumped out to an early lead behind a trio of triples with Epps pitching in one and Ismael Massoud contributing two as Georgetown held the 14-5 advantage (14:57).
• Some early foul trouble forced GU to look to its bench as XU started to get hot, making it a one-possession game (18-15) with 10:33 on the clock. Fielder answered right back with a triple to give the Hoyas some breathing room again.
• The Hoyas staged a 12-2 run, completely on the play of Heath, who went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, to give the Blue & Gray a 33-19 lead.
• However, Xavier would not go away, clawing back into the game, as Georgetown took a 43-38 lead into the locker room.
• It was all Epps to start the second half as he tallied GU's first six points, taking a 49-41 lead behind a triple and a trio of free throws. Another Epps layup pushed the lead to double digits (54-43) with 17:07 on the clock.
• Xavier kept pushing and despite struggling from the field, consistent trips to the free throw line kept the Musketeers in the game and eventually knotted it at 66 behind a pair of XU free throws. A Xavier triple gave the home team its first lead of the game, 69-66, with 9:02 to play.
• It was back and forth as both teams continued to make shots down the stretch but Xavier was able to come up with the layup to pull within one and get a stop on the defensive end. XU scored the game winner with 30 seconds left to play as the Musketeers held on for the 92-91 win.

 
UP NEXT
The Hoyas will return to action on Tuesday, January 23 when they welcome the Butler University Bulldogs to Capital One Arena. Tipoff in the District is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Dave Sims calling the play-by-play and Jim Spanarkel providing analysis. The radio call of Rich Chvotkin, in his 50th season as the Voice of the Hoyas, can be heard locally on The Team 980 and nationally on the SiriusXM app.