MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Georgetown University men's basketball team couldn't contain a second-half surge from the West Virginia University Mountaineers and fell 73-60 at WVU Coliseum on Friday night. With the setback, the Hoyas slip to 7-2 overall while the Mountaineers move to 6-2 on the year.
 
ON THE RECORD
"We definitely love the (Big 12-BIG EAST) Battle and in the Battle, all the home teams have won. I thought they had incredible energy out here. I thought our defense was spectacular today. I thought our offense beat us. You play a 40-minute game and have eight assists - we have got to do a better job trusting one another offensively, drive and kick - but you have to give them credit, they made the plays at the right time. They had that one four-minute stretch where it changed the whole game and their game plan is 3's and we did a great job in the first half and then we let them get loose in the second half with a couple of 3's. But I was really proud of our group. I thought we were resilient defensively, they had to make some really tough shots and you give them credit because they went in … But I think it was a great game, I thought our program got better today, I thought we grew up today … I'm proud of our guys' effort, I'm proud of our defensive intensity. Overall we lost a game, but I thought we definitely improved as a group." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"I feel like they went on a little stretch where they made some tough shots and we didn't come down and we didn't make them guard and execute. So we are going to go back and clean that up." - Jayden Epps (Jr., G)
 
"I think we have shown that we have grown since the Notre Dame game. I think we can continue to get better and I think we are going to show that at Syracuse." - Micah Peavy (GS, G)
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Jayden Epps led the Hoyas with 17 points on six made field goals, including a trio of 3-pointers.
• Thomas Sorber chipped in 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting and Malik Mack added 10 points on four made field goals.
• Drew Fielder led the Hoyas on the glass, grabbing eight boards, followed by Micah Peavy who pulled down five.
• Sorber's trio of assists paced the offense.
• Mack added a trio of steals to his line while the quartet of Jordan Burks, Peavy, Sorber and Caleb Williams each chipped in one block apiece.
• Georgetown shot 37.9% (22-58) from the floor with nine made triples while hitting 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
• The Hoyas narrowly lost the battle on the boards as they were outrebounded 34-33 by the Mountaineers.

 
WEST VIRGINIA HIGHLIGHTS

• Javon Small led all scorers with 26 points on a 9-for-16 effort from the floor, including a quartet of 3-pointers. 
• Tucker DeVries and Toby Okani were the other Mountaineers in double figures with 15 and 11, respectively.
• Sencire Harris was the leading rebounder for WVU, pulling down nine. DeVries and Small were behind Harris, grabbing seven and five, respectively.
• The Mountaineers shot 26-for-57 from the field (45.6%) and went 12-for-13 from the charity stripe.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgetown got on the board first with a 3-pointer from Epps. The home team strung together a 9-2 run to take the 9-5 lead with 15:16 on the clock. However, the Hoyas would not go away, using a stifling defense to shut down West Virginia and tally nine unanswered behind Epps and Fielder to pull ahead 14-9 (12:37).
• The Mountaineers would continue to fight back, making it a one-possession game but each time the Hoyas were able to find an answer. WVU tied it up at 18 before back-to-back layups from Burks and Epps gave the Blue & Gray some breathing room.
• Five straight from the Mountaineers gave them a one-point advantage (23-22; 5:05), but GU retorted with an 8-2 spurt, capped by a trey from  Mack to give the Hoyas a 30-25 lead with 1:31 to play. WVU cut the deficit to two as the Hoyas took a slim 30-28 lead into the locker room.
• The Hoyas got off to a quick start in the second half with back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to six (34-28) before five unanswered from the home squad took it back to a one-possession game (15:58).
• With the game tied at 36, Mack tallied five of his own to push the Blue & Gray ahead once again but an 11-2 Mountaineer run swung the momentum back to West Virginia and forced the GU timeout as the Hoyas trailed 47-43.
• Georgetown struggled from the floor as WVU continued to pour the points in until a Caleb Williams triple from the left side stopped the bleeding and closed the gap to single digits. The bucket sparked a 7-0 run for the Hoyas, pulling the game within five (55-50). That's as close as the Blue & Gray would get as the Mountaineers held on for the 73-60 victory at the final whistle.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown will return to action on Saturday, December 14 when the Hoyas stay on the road to face longtime rival Syracuse University. Tipoff at JMA Wireless Dome is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ACC Networth with Kevin Brown calling the play-by-lay and Chris Spatola providing analysis. The game can be heard locally on Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin, in his 51st season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.