WASHINGTON – Playing without a pair of starters in Jayden Epps and Thomas Sorber, the Georgetown University men's basketball team made it a two-point game with 2:10 on the clock, but couldn't complete the comeback as the team fell 73-68 to the visiting DePaul University Blue Demons on Friday night at Capital One Arena. With the setback, the Hoyas slip to 12-6 on the season with a 3-4 mark in BIG EAST play while DePaul improves to 10-9 on the season with a 1-7 record in league action.
 
ON THE RECORD
"DePaul has been knocking at the door now for about a month with their team. I'm very happy that Coach Holtmann is in our league. He does a great job and his kids played very well so credit to them. Obviously, our injuries are really catching up to us here. We have got to be better. Hopefully we can get healthy quick. We have a really quick turnaround again with Villanova, so we'll have a quick, scout and walkthrough practice on Sunday to get prepared." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"We've got to figure it out. We know that we've got the guys regardless, but just collectively we didn't do our job tonight, but we've got to bounce back. All that matters is the response." - Drew Fielder
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Malik Mack and Drew Fielder led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with 19 points apiece. Mack was 8-for-15 from the field, draining 3-of-6 3-pointers, to go along with a squad-best six assists.
• Fielder's 19 came from a 7-for-14 performance from the floor and a 4-for-5 effort from the charity stripe. He added eight rebounds as well as a pair of blocks and assists.
• Caleb Williams managed 10 points to go with six rebounds while Curtis Williams Jr. added 10 points and a pair of rebounds.
• Micah Peavy led the Hoyas on the glass, pulling down 10 boards.
• Georgetown shot 41.5% (27-65) from the floor and went 8-for-11 from the charity stripe.
• The Hoyas outrebounded DePaul 33-30.
• The Blue & Gray forced 14 DePaul turnovers on five steals and managed four blocks in the game.

 
DEPAUL  HIGHLIGHTS

• DePaul used a balanced attack with a trio in double figures and eight of its nine in the rotation to register a point. CJ Gunn led the way for the Blue Demons with 17 points followed by Layden Blocker's 14 and NJ Benson's 12 with both coming off the bench.
• Benson grabbed seven rebounds to lead DePaul on the glass while Troy D'Amico, Conor Enright and Blocker each chipped in a trio of helpers to pace the offense.
• The Blue Demons shot 50.0% (22-44) from the field and 46.7% (7-15) from downtown.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Despite Georgetown opening up with the first bucket, it was an early DePaul run that gave the visitors an early 21-9 advantage. Back-to-back buckets from the duo of Williams and Williams Jr. cut the deficit to eight.
• Both squads traded points and a Jordan Burks fastbreak layup cut the deficit to single digits (29-20) but a 10-2 Blue Demon run fueled by 3-pointers and free throws gave DePaul its largest lead thus far at 39-22.
• Georgetown scored six straight to close the frame with a traditional three-point play from Drew Fielder followed by a Mack trey to head into the locker room trailing 39-28.
• After the break, DePaul kept the foot on the gas, pulling ahead by as many as 16 but six unanswered fueled by a pair of buckets from Mack and a Burks layup made it a 10-point game and brought the crowd back into the game.
• The Blue Demons would push the lead to 12 before a Fielder triple brought the crowd to its feet as the Hoyas closed the gap to single digits. Caleb Williams drained his jumper and Fielder made his second of a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game (55-49) with 7:49 to play.
• A DePaul triple pushed the lead back to 11 before a 9-2 Hoya run capped by five from Williams Jr., including a banked 3-pointer and an athletic layup, made it a four-point game (64-60) with 2:55 to play.
• A free throw on the other end was answered with a Mack trey to make it a one-possession game with 2:10 to play. That's as close as the Hoyas would get as DePaul went on for the 73-68 win.

 
OF NOTE

• Georgetown was without Jayden Epps (left hamstring) and Thomas Sorber (right elbow). Entering the day, Sorber ranked 15th in the BIG EAST in scoring (14.2 ppg) and Epps ranked 21st (13.2 ppg). Sorber is also the league's leading rebounder and his 2.5 blocked shots per game ranks second.
• For the ninth time in 12 games, the Blue & Gray dominated inside, outscoring the Blue Demons 34-22 in the paint. For the season, they are tallying 630 points in the paint to 578 from their opponents.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown returns to action on Monday, January 20 as the Hoyas travel to face Villanova at Finneran Pavilion. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Alex Faust calling the play-by-play and Jim Spanarkel 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.