NEWARK, N.J. – The Georgetown University men's basketball team cut the deficit to three (56-53) after trailing by 11 in the second half, but couldn't complete the comeback bid and fell 76-70 to the Seton Hall University Pirates on Wednesday night. With the setback, the Hoyas are 8-14 on the season with a 1-10 mark in BIG EAST action while SHU improves to 15-8 on the year and 8-4 in BE play.
 
ON THE RECORD
"I was really proud of our men. I thought we competed today. I was proud of how we responded to our last home game. Again, it's the BIG EAST - no matter who you play, you've gotta be prepared. I thought Sha's guys did a real good job responding. I think every time we went on a run, they answered and then they had the final knockout punch. I'm proud of our guys."  - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• In a homecoming game, senior Supreme Cook tallied his sixth double-double of the season, tallying 20 points and a game-best 11 rebounds while dishing out a trio of assists. He went 8-for-13 from the field.
• Dontrez Styles matched Cook's 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting, including a 4-for-8 performance from beyond the arc, with all four recorded in the first half. He grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a pair of helpers.
• Jayden Epps managed another double-digit outing with 15 points and a team-best seven assists.
• Jay Heath rounded out those in double figures with 10 points.
• Georgetown shot 36.0% (27-75) while allowing Seton Hall to shoot 43.1% (25-58) for the game.
• SHU held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Hoyas 44-40. 

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Through the first six minutes of action, both teams traded buckets with the Hoyas tying it up twice, the second time on a dunk from Supreme Cook. SHU staged a six-point mini run before a Jay Heath bucket followed by an Epps triple cut the deficit back to one (16-15, 10:49).
• A game of runs, the Hall pushed right back and built up a nine-point advantage (26-17). The Hoyas responded with back-to-back triples, one apiece from Wayne Bristol Jr. and Styles, his third of the frame, to make it a one-possession game (26-23, 6:25).
• Georgetown trimmed the gap to two (35-33) with 1:06 in the stanza but the Pirates knocked down a triple to take the 38-33 lead into the locker room.
• Despite going back and forth to open the second half, Seton Hall managed to take an 11-point lead (51-40) with 15:00 on the clock. However, the Hyas would not go away, staging a 9-2 run fueled by layups from Styles and Epps and five points from Heath to pull within four (53-49) with 8:50 to play.
• A Cook dunk with 6:21 to play made it a one-possession game (56-53). However, SHU reeled off six unanswered to build the gap once again.
• The Pirates were seemingly in control, owning a commanding 11-point lead (71-60) with 1:38 to play but Georgetown would not back down and was able to cut it to five (73-68, 75-70) but that's as close as they would come, falling 76-70 at the final whistle.

 
UP NEXT
The Hoyas will return to action on Saturday, February 10 when they return to the District to face the No. 1/1 UConn Huskies. Tipoff at Capital One Arena is scheduled for noon and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Matt Schumacker calling the play-by-play and Dickey Simpkins 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.