WASHINGTON – The Georgetown men's basketball team couldn't hold on and fell to the Seton Hall Pirates, 76-67, on Saturday night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. With the loss, the Hoyas slip to 9-7 on the year with a 1-4 mark in BIG EAST play while Seton Hall improves to 14-2 overall with a 4-1 record in league action.
 
ON THE RECORD
"We may not be where we need to be record wise, but I know I have a talented group that needs to be a little bit more disciplined. I think we have a tough group that has to be a little bit more disciplined … I got to pick our group up." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Malik Mack led a quintet of Hoyas in double figures with 14 points on four made field goals and a 5-for-7 performance from the free throw line.
• Isaiah Abraham followed up with 13 points of his own on four made field goals, including a trio of 3-pointers as well as a perfect 2-for-2 showing at the charity stripe.
• The trio of Vince Iwuchukwu, KJ Lewis and Caleb Williams each chipped in 10 points to round out those in double figures.
• Iwuchukwu grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and managed a game-best four steals. His four steals is a career best.
• Lewis dished out a trio of assists to pace the offense.
• Georgetown shot 33.9% (21-62) for the game and 35.0% (7-20) from deep.
• The Hoyas were outrebounded 41-38.
• The Blue & Gray forced 11 SHU turnovers on eight steals but committed 12 turnovers of their own.

 
PIRATE HIGHLIGHTS

• Adam Clark led the scoring for the Pirates with 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting and a 10-for-12 performance from the charity stripe. Tajuan Simpkins followed with 17 points and Trey Parker rounded out the Pirates in double figures with 12.
• Stephon Payne III and Najai Hines led on the glass with six rebounds apiece.
• Clark and Simpkins paced Seton Hall's offense with two assists apiece.
• Seton Hall shot 42.1% (24-57) from the field, 28.6% (4-14) from beyond the arc and 72.7% (24-33) from the charity stripe.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Despite Seton Hall opening the scoring, an Isaiah Abraham triple followed by a Lewis jumper put the Hoyas up 5-2 early. With the score knotted at six points apiece, C. Williams drained a 3-pointer to push the Blue & Gray once again.
• The Pirates would not go away, tying the game up at 13 before the Hoyas reeled off three-straight buckets, capped by a Jayden Fort jump to make it a two-possession game. Georgetown continued to extend the gap, leading by as many as seven (22-15) down the stretch.
• Despite the late lead, SHU clawed its way back into the contest, taking advantage of the offensive glass. Despite tying the game up at 27, a pair of Langston Love free throws put GU ahead 29-27, but another second-chance bucket for the Pirates sent the teams into the locker room knotted at 29.
• SHU started the second half scoring but the squads traded points with the score knotted two more times in the first two minutes of the frame. Tied at 34-34, the Blue & Gray staged a 13-2 run over nearly four minutes of action to take its largest lead of the game, 47-36. The run was sparked by buckets from Halaifonua and Lewis before a trio of triples from Abrhaham, Lewis and Mack.
• The Pirates would not back down, reeling off eight unanswered before a Mack jumper ended the run, pushing the game back to a pair of possessions (49-44) with 11:11 on the clock. The visitors kept chipping away, eventually taking a 52-51 advantage. Four-straight from Mack swung the momentum back to GU, regaining the lead 55-52.
• As the Hoyas hit a cold spell, Seton Hall used a 15-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 67-57 (3:41). Georgetown was able to make it a two-possession game (69-63), but that's as close as it would get as the Pirates held on for the 76-67 win.

UP NEXT
Georgetown will return to action on Tuesday, January 13 when the squad travels to Chi Health Center to face the Creighton Bluejays. Tipoff in Omaha, Nebraska is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on Peacock with Paul Burmeister calling the play-by-play and Nick Bahe 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.