CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Georgetown University men's basketball team fell to the No. 16/17 University of North Carolina Tar Heels at the Smith Center on Sunday evening, 81-61, in Chapel Hill. With the loss, Georgetown slips to 6-3 on the season while UNC improves to 8-1.
 
ON THE RECORD
"You've got to give UNC a lot of credit. I thought they played incredibly well, thought they shared the ball. I thought their length definitely impacted the game at the rim, between Caleb (Wilson) and (Henri) Veesaar. … I think we got a little frustrated, and we tried to do it singlehandedly by ourselves. So that's something that we'll address." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• KJ Lewis led a trio of Hoyas in double figures with 17 points on 46.7% (7-15) shooting from the field. He added a squad-best seven rebounds to go along with a trio of steals.
• Julius Halaifonua was second on the team in scoring with 14 points on an efficient 5-for-9 performance from the field, including a triple. He added four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
• Langston Love came off the bench to round out those in double figures with 10 points on 80.0% (4-5) shooting while grabbing four rebounds.
• Malik Mack paced the offense with four assists while Halaifonua and Lewis each added a block apiece.
• Georgetown shot 33.3% (24-72) for the game and was 75.0% (9-12) from the charity stripe.
• North Carolina owned the glass, outrebounding Georgetown 45-36.

 
TAR HEELHIGHLIGHTS

• Caleb Wilson led a quartet of double-figure point scorers with 20 points, followed by Henri Veesaar (18) and Luka Bogavac and Derek Dixon, who each chipped in 14 points.
• Veesaar (15) and Wilson (14) combined for 29 rebounds as both managed the double-double on the day.
• Kyan Evans paced the offense with four assists.
• North Carolina shot 48.3% (29-60) from the field and 32.1% (9-28) from deep.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgetown got off to a quick start as a Halaifonua bucket started the scoring. Five quick ones for Carolina put the Hoyas behind but a Lewis steal and layup sparked a 12-4 run. The spurt featured a pair of treys, one apiece from Mack and Lewis, and was capped by a Love bucket as GU was in control, up 14-9.
• The Tar Heels chipped away and knotted the game at 14 but back-to-back layups from Lewis and Jeremiah Williams made it a two-possession game. UNC's Derek Dixon reeled off five of his own as the Tar Heels regained the lead but another Love bucket and the converted free throw gave Georgetown the advantage again (21-19, 11:11).
• An 8-3 run gave the home team some breathing room (30-25) as the Hoyas continued to battle to keep it a two-possession game. North Carolina would extend the gap to as many as seven, but the Blue & Gray continued to find the answer, including a Love second-chance layup to close the first frame, sending the squads into the locker room with UNC up 44-39.
• Georgetown made it a one-possession game early behind a pair of Lewis free throws. The teams traded buckets until Carolina strung together a 16-4 run to take a commanding 62-47 lead.
• The Blue & Gray cut it to eight (62-54) behind seven unanswered but that's as close as the squad would get as North Carolina ballooned the lead to as many as 20, sealing the 81-61 victory at the final whistle.

 
OF NOTE             `

• Lewis continues his streak as the lone Hoya to score in double digits in every game so far this season.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown will return to action on Saturday, December 13 when the squad hosts Saint Peter's at McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+ with Jeremy Huber calling the play-by-play and Martin Bahar 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.