CHICAGO – The Georgetown men's basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting performance and fell to the DePaul University Blue Demons, 56-50, on Tuesday evening at Wintrust Arena. With the setback, the Hoyas slip to 9-6 on the year with a 1-3 mark in BIG EAST play while DePaul improves to 10-6 overall with a 2-3 record in league action.
 
ON THE RECORD
"I just thought physically and offensively we weren't the team that we want to be. But overall a good BIG EAST game. Unfortunately, we lost, but we'll stay positive with our men and try to get the next one." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• KJ Lewis was the lone Hoya in double figures with 18 points on five made buckets and eight made free throws.
• Lewis also led Georgetown on the glass, pulling down a squad-best seven rebounds.
• Malik Mack, Caleb Williams, Julius Halaifonua and Vince Iwuchukwu each tallied one assist apiece to pace the offense.
• In his return to the lineup, Iwuchukwu tallied a game-best four blocks on the night to go along with a three steals, both matching his career highs.
• Georgetown shot 22.6% (12-53) for the game, but 36.7% in the first half.
• The Hoyas won the battle on the glass, outrebounding DePaul 41-39.
• The Blue & Gray forced 15 DPU turnovers on nine steals but committed 13 turnovers of their own.

 
BLUE DEMON HIGHLIGHTS

• Brandon Maclin led the Blue Demons in scoring with 13 points on three made buckets and a 6-for-9 performance from the charity stripe.
• N.J. Benson tallied a game-best 16 rebounds for DePaul.
• Layden Blocker dished out a squad-best five assists
• DePaul shot 35.3% (18-51) from the field for the game and 35.0% (7-20) from beyond the arc.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Despite the Hoyas getting on the board first, DePaul got off to a hot start taking a 14-4 lead early in the game. Back-to-back buckets from Lewis and Langston Love made it a two-possession game (14-8) but the Blue Demons found the answer from the arc once again.
• The Hoyas staged an 11-3 run over nearly four minutes of action behind five points from Jeremiah Williams sandwiching a quartet of Julius Halaifonua free throws. The run was capped by a Vince Iwuchukwu layup in his first game back since November 15 as the Hoyas took a 21-20 lead.
• DPU would pull ahead again, leading by as many as four (29-25) before six unanswered from the Hoyas fueled by a pair of KJ Lewis jumpers and a Halaifonua layup to give the Hoyas a 31-29 advantage. The teams traded free throws as the half winded down with the Blue & Gray taking a 35-32 lead into the locker room.
• The Blue Demons went on a 10-3 run to start the second half forcing the GU timeout. Out of the huddle, the Hoyas tallied another four from the charity stripe to knot the game at 42 with 11:50 to play. A Lewis traditional three-point play put the Hoyas up 45-43 and forced the Blue Demon timeout.
• DePaul went on a 9-1 run to pull ahead six with 2:21 to play as Georgetown's shooting woes continued. A pair of free throws pulled the Blue & Gray within four (52-48) but that's as close as the Hoyas would get down the stretch as the Blue Demons held on for the 56-50 victory.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown will return to action on Saturday, January 10 when the squad hosts the Seton Hall University Pirates at Capital One Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on FS1 with Chris Vosters calling the play-by-play and Tarik Turner providing analysis. The game can be heard locally on Bloomberg 99.1 as well as on the SiriusXM app with Rich Chvotkin, in his 52nd season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.