WASHINGTON – Five Hoyas were in double figures as the Georgetown University men's basketball team defeated the visiting Wagner College Seahawks on Saturday afternoon, 92-75, at Capital One Arena. With the win in the District, the Hoyas improve to 5-0 while Wagner slips to 0-5 on the season.
 
ON THE RECORD
"I thought we went out and did what we had to do. There were a lot of mistakes, yet at the same time, I thought we played with purpose. We can always get better, but in games like this here, we landed the plane, the guys did a good job. We shared the ball, 21 assists today … But, I thought four of our guys had, what I would say, one of the better games they've had in a uniform. Julius (Halaifonua) played well, Kayvaun (Mulready) played well, (Jayden) Fort played well and Isaiah (Abraham) played well. And that goes to tell you the depth and the player development that these kids have really bought into. So I was really proud of our group." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"Prior to the game, I had an opportunity to talk with Vince. He's in a really good space, good spirits. Told him how much we loved him, how much we missed him, and that we're praying for him." - Cooley on Vince Iwuchukwu's status
 
"Yeah, obviously, like coming into this game, you know, we lost a big part of the team, so mentally, I had to come into the game aggressive and take care of the ball on both sides of the floor. And yeah, I think I did that a little bit today, but yeah, just looking to improve going into this tournament. And yeah, we'll see what we got from there." - Julius Halaifonua
 
"I just think it's preparation. Winning programs prepare for games. We prepare every practice. We come in and we compete at a high level. And that's a thing that I try to bring every day and just compete at the highest level." - Isaiah Abraham
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Malik Mack led all scorers and a quintet of Hoyas in double figures with 18 points on six made field goals, including a 4-for-7 performance from beyond the arc. The junior grabbed two rebounds and tied for a game-best five assists.
• Julius Halaifonua scored a career-best 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting and an efficient 6-for-7 performance from the charity stripe. Halaifonua also recorded a game-best and new career-high nine rebounds
• Caleb Williams tallied 15 points on 4-for-9 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line. The sophomore added five rebounds to his line.
• Isaiah Abraham had an efficient outing for the Hoyas, recording a career-high 12 points on a perfect 2-for-2 showing from deep and 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Abraham grabbed five rebounds off the glass.
• KJ Lewis rounded out the Hoyas in double figures with 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting. The junior dished out five assists, tying the game-best.
• Lewis led the squad with a game-best four steals while Jeremiah Williams and Kayvaun Mulready each notched three of their own.
• Georgetown shot 46.8% from the floor with 29 made field goals on 21 assists for the game. The Hoyas tallied a season-best nine 3-pointers, shooting 40.9% (9-22) from deep.
• The Blue & Gray won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Seahawks 38-36.
• GU forced 16 Wagner turnovers on 11 steals while committing just nine turnovers of their own. The Hoyas managed to convert those 16 turnovers to 26 points.

 
WAGNER HIGHLIGHTS

• Wagner scored a season-high 75 points, fueled by Jaden Baker's game-high 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting and a 3-for-8 performance from deep. The senior led the Seahawks in assists with four and added five rebounds to his stat line.
• Nick Jones was Wagner's second-leading scorer, posting 16 points and pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.
• Forward Binael Basil added 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting and grabbed six rebounds for the Seahawks.
• Wagner shot 42.6% (26-61) from the field and 36.0% (9-25) from three.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgetown got on the board first behind a Lewis bucket but Wagner answered right back with a pair of buckets to take an early 5-2 lead. Trailing three (7-4), the Hoyas used a suffocating defense to hold the Seahawks scoreless for more than six minutes of game action to hold a 12-7 lead behind eight unanswered.
• Wagner made it a one-possession game again (14-11, 10:00) but an Abraham triple sparked a 14-2 Hoya run over 3:41 for the Blue & Gray to pull ahead 28-13. The Blue & Gray tallied a trio of triples during the stretch, including a pair from Abraham, to go along with an emphatic dunk from DC product Jayden Fort.
• A Seahawks triple cut the deficit to 10 (28-18) but another GU run (12-0), capped by a Kayvaun Mulready fast break layup that he converted to a traditional three-point play, pushed the lead to as many as 22 as the Hoyas took a commanding 40-18 lead with 2:00 remaining in the frame. Georgetown went into the break with a 44-27 advantage.
• Out of the locker room, Mack got the Hoyas off to a hot start, sandwiching a pair of Wagner free throws with a pair of 3-pointers. However, Wagner wouldn't go away, answering with a triple on the other end. The Seahawks would trim the lead to as few as 13 (58-42) but back-to-back triples from Mack and Lewis pushed the GU lead back to 64-45.
• The Hoyas maintained the double-digit lead through the end of the game, sealing the 92-75 victory.

 
OF NOTE

• The Hoyas are 5-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
• Halaifonua tallied a career-high 16 points paired with a career-high nine rebounds.
• With 21 assists to their credit, this is the sixth time under Cooley that the Hoyas have tallied 20 or more assists in a game. The high under Cooley was 23 in the first game of his tenure (Le Moyne, 11/07/2023).
• This is the fourth game of the season the Hoyas have won by double digits (Morgan State - 17; at Maryland - 10; Binghamton - 13; Wagner - 17).
• With a 25-for-28 showing from the charity stripe, the Hoyas connected on a season-best 89.3.% from the line. For the season, the Hoyas are shooting 77.5% from the free throw line.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown will be back in action on Thursday, November 27 when the squad heads down to Kissimmee, Florida for the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational for a pair of games. The Hoyas will face Dayton in the opening game at State Farm Fieldhouse. Tipoff in the Sunshine State is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg calling the play-by-play and Fran Fraschilla providing analysis. The game can be heard locally on Team 980 as well as on the SiriusXM app with Rich Chvotkin, in his 52nd season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.