NEW YORK – The Georgetown University men's basketball team could not overcome a 13-point first half deficit as the #10 Hoyas fell 74-56 to #7 Providence in the BIG EAST Tournament First Round on Wednesday. With the loss, Georgetown closes the season with a 9-23 overall record with a 2-18 record in BIG EAST play. Providence moves on to the BIG EAST Quarterfinals with a record of 20-12 on the season.
 
ON THE RECORD
"There's a lot of ways to start. First, I want to thank my team. This has been a very challenging year, an emotional year. I wish I could have done a much better job with them over the course of the 32 games we played. It didn't turn out the way we wanted, but it's an opportunity for us to grow, get better."  - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"It's good to be in the company and beside a name like Allen Iverson. You know how great he was. Like Coach said, it's always good to play in this building as well. Growing up as a kid, you see so much about it. You watch games here. You hear how legendary it is. It's just a dream come true playing in this building, getting an opportunity like that, and I just gotta keep working and trying to keep getting better." - Jayden Epps on being only the second Hoya, along with Allen Iverson, to score 30 points in a BIG EAST Tournament game
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Jayden Epps led all scorers with 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting. It was his seventh 30-point outing of the season. His four assists paced the offense while he also recorded a pair of blocks. He was the lone Hoya in double figures on the night.
• Dontrez Styles grabbed a game-best nine rebounds to go along with seven points, a pair of blocks and one assist.
• Georgetown shot 40.7% (22-54) for the evening, including an 8-for-24 performance from three-point land.
• Providence held the narrow 37-35 advantage on the glass.

 
PROVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS

• Josh Oduro led a trio of Friars with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Devin Carter added 19 and Ticket Gaines tallied 15.
• Oduro grabbed a squad-best nine rebounds while Carter's six assists paced the offense.
• Providence shot 42.9% (24-56) for the game, including a 12-for-32 (37.5%) performance from beyond the arc.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hoyas got on the board first as an Epps jumper sparked the scoring. Providence found the answer on the other end with a triple but Epps came right back with a trey of his own as the Hoyas led 5-3 early.
• Providence staged a 20-4 run over 5:10 to balloon its lead to 14. However, the Hoyas would not go away, chipping away at the double-digit deficit with a Jay Heath trey making it a seven-point game at 10:04 (25-18).
• The Hoyas worked to keep it a single-digit game as another Epps trey made it 28-21.
• A 10-3 spurt from the Friars pushed the lead to 14 (38-24) with 4:15 remaining in the frame. Providence took a 40-27 lead into the locker room.
• The Friars came out hot in the second half, reeling off five unanswered forcing the GU timeout early in the frame. Out of the huddle, the Hoyas staged an 11-4 run of their own, fueled by a reverse dunk from Styles and a corner triple from Wayne Bristol Jr. to pull within 11 (49-38) and forcing the PC timeout.
• The Hoyas came out of the break and got a block on one end that turned into an Epps layup on the other end, cutting it to single digits (49-40, 14:12).
• Providence pushed the lead to as many as 16 (63-47) but a 9-1 run from Georgetown, including five from Drew Fielder, made it an eight-point game. Poor foul shooting plagued the Hoyas as they could not make it any closer late in the game. Providence held on for the 74-56 victory.