WASHINGTON – In a classic BIG EAST battle, the Georgetown University men's basketball closed on a 15-4 run, including a game-sealing layup from Jayden Epps to secure a 75-73 win over the Villanova Wildcats at Capital One Arena. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 17-13 on the season with an 8-11 mark in BIG EAST play while the Wildcats slip to 18-13 overall, with an 11-9 record in league action.
 
ON THE RECORD
"That was a big chess match game and a great BIG EAST game. We're coming off of losing three in a row, so we played with some urgency, some anger, and we played with some maturity. I really thought we were mature today. We did not panic when we got down by nine. I thought we made a big jump today with the maturity of the group." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"It feels good when you have people around you who trust you. Like Coach Cooley said, it's been an up and down year for the team, but for me as well, with my injuries and stuff like that. It's good to have a coach who trusts you down the stretch like that. Here you've got people around you, you've got teammates, and you've just got people who just love you and trust you." - Jayden Epps
 
"I just feel like all year we've shown that we just don't quit. Even in league games, we've gone down, and we just kept fighting to the end. I think that showed today. We don't quit, and we had confidence in ourselves to win this game." - Micah Peavy
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Epps led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor, including the game winning layup with 5.0 seconds to go.
• Micah Peavy was right behind Epps with 19 of his own, including five triples.
• Jordan Burks tallied a career-high 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting to go along with six rebounds.
• Malik Mack chipped in 10 points on four made field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers.
• Drew Fielder led the team on the glass, grabbing seven rebounds.
• Fielder and Mack paced the offense with four assists apiece.
• Georgetown shot 45.2% (14-31) from beyond the arc, 44.8% (26-58) from the field and 90.0% (9-10) from the charity stripe.
• Despite the 'Cats outrebounding the Hoyas 34-29, GU was able to course correct and limit VU to just one offensive rebound in the second half after giving up eight in the first half.
• GU forced six Wildcat turnovers on four steals while committing six turnovers of their own.

 
VILLANOVA HIGHLIGHTS

• Eric Dixon led a trio of Wildcats in double figures tallying 24 points on 8-for-19 shooting. Jordan Longino (17) and Jhamir Brickus (10) rounded out the Wildcats in double figures.
• Enoch Boakye led the squad on the glass pulling down a team-best 11 boards. Wooga Poplar followed Boakye with 10 rebounds to his credit.
• Brickus paced the offense with seven assists and was followed by Longino with four.
• Villanova shot 45.8% (27-59) from the floor and 28.6% (8-28) from behind the arc.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams traded points to open with a triple from Curtis Williams Jr. knotting the score at 5-5. Villanova would tally the next bucket before five straight from Peavy gave GU its first lead of the game at 9-7.
• After the 'Cats evened the score at 9-9, the Hoyas got hot from downtown with their next four buckets coming from beyond the arc as Burks, Williams Jr., Epps and Mack all drained a 3-pointer to push the home team ahead 21-16.
• VU clawed its way back into the game, taking a 26-23 lead before Peavy knocked down another triple. The visitors had a retort with a second-chance 3-pointer on the other end but Burks came up with the and one on the other end, making the layup and drawing the foul. His traditional three-point play sent the squads into the locker room tied at 29-29.
• Georgetown came out hot in the second half, knocking down 11 points off a trio of Peavy treys to go along with a Drew Fielder bucket to take a 40-35 lead going into the first media timeout (15:33). Coming out of the huddle, an Epps 3-pointer extended the lead to 43-35.
• 'Nova wouldn't go away, but the Hoyas used good ball movement to find the hands of an open Burks to sink the 3-pointer and take a 55-50 lead. Villanova stayed afloat as the whistle went against the home team sending the Wildcats to the line repeatedly. A triple gave VU its first lead of the frame (58-57) before Epps responded with a trey of his own. Another five-point spurt from the 'Cats forced the GU timeout as the Hoyas trailed 63-60.
• Villanova ballooned the lead to as many as nine (69-60, 3:43) but the Hoyas started to mount the comeback, reeling off seven in a row behind a Mack triple, a pair of free throws from Epps and an emphatic Fielder dunk to make it a one-possession game with 2:21 to play.
• 'Nova pulled ahead four (71-67) once again but a pair of Epps free throws sandwiched between a Burks layup and dunk pushed the Blue & Gray ahead 73-71. A layup on the other end put the ball in GU's hands with 26 seconds as Jayden Epps held the ball at halfcourt before making his move, driving to the basket and sinking the layup with five seconds remaining on the clock as the Hoyas completed the comeback, 75-73.

 
OF NOTE

• Tallying 14 3-pointers, Georgetown eclipsed its previous season best of 12, set at Creighton on February 23.
• Georgetown sweeps Villanova in a pair of regular season games for the first time since the 1992-1993 season when GU won 66-56 on the road (01/16/1993) and secured a 61-52 win at home (02/17/1993).
• With the win over Villanova, the Hoyas have swept two BIG EAST teams in the regular season (Villanova, Seton Hall). It is the first time the Blue & Gray has swept a pair of BE teams since the 2015-16 season when Georgetown swept DePaul (70-58 / Road / 12/30/2015 and 74-63 / Home / 01/09/2016) and St. John's (93-73 / Road / 01/13/2016 and 92-67 / Home / 02/08/2016).

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown returns to action on Saturday, March 8 as the Hoyas travel to Chicago, Illinois to face the DePaul Blue Demons in the regular season finale. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Chris Vosters calling the play-by-play and LaPhonso Ellis providing analysis. The game can be heard locally on 106.7 The Fan with Rich Chvotkin, in his 51st season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.