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Georgetown University Athletics

Big East Conference Hoya Saxa
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: during the first half of the Big East Men’s Tournament first round at Madison Square Garden on March, 11, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks)
Porter Binks
63
Winner Georgetown GTown 15-17,6-14 Big East
56
DePaul DePaul 16-16,8-12 Big East
Winner
Georgetown GTown
15-17,6-14 Big East
63
Final
56
DePaul DePaul
16-16,8-12 Big East
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Georgetown GTown 21 42 63
DePaul DePaul 24 32 56

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

#11 Hoyas Upset Sixth-Seeded DePaul 63-56 in First Round of BIG EAST Tournament

NEW YORK –  With three in double figures, the 11th-seeded Georgetown University men's basketball team pulled off the 63-56 upset over the #6 DePaul University Blue Demons in the first round of the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep on Wednesday night. With the win at Madison Square Garden, the Hoyas improve to 15-17 on the year while DePaul finishes the tournament with an even 16-16 record. The Hoyas move on to the quarterfinals to face the #3 Villanova University Wildcats on Thursday evening.
 
ON THE RECORD
"Today was about our defense. It was about our physicality. We were prepared. I know DePaul is one of the more physical teams in our league, Maclin, Benson, Blocker, you know, competing against Coach Holtmann over the years. But I'm really proud of our guys. It has been a long year for us with respect to coming down the stretch and losing games by a possession, losing at the buzzer … So we have a tough game tomorrow. We'll be prepared for tomorrow. We know we're going to have a hard game tomorrow, but it's an opportunity for us to advance." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"I feel like we're taking it one game at a time. There's a big opportunity in front of us and being able to win these games for the University is something that we look forward to doing, knowing where the University was at and knowing where it's trying to go. But as a team, I feel like we're just taking it one day at a time, one opportunity at a time, knowing that we don't get too many chances at this, so taking it one play at a time and one day at a time and trying to make the most of it." - Malik Mack
 
"Just belief, and my teammates believed in me, talked to me during halftime telling me to keep my head up, coaches told me to keep my head up. I went out there and just played my heart out." - Vince Iwuchukwu
 
"It was a great feeling to hear that. As everyone is aware, we have had some pretty big struggles this year and we've always been right there. So for us to break through at the BIG EAST Tournament and give ourselves some life, some rhythm, it means a lot. Our fans showed out their last game of the whole entire first day, so it just meant a lot and it's going to give us some energy going into tomorrow." - Jeremiah Williams on hearing Hoya Saxa ringing out through the Garden
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS
  • A trio of Hoyas scored in double figures as Vince Iwuchukwu and Jeremiah Williams each managed 17 points to lead the squad. Iwuchukwu tallied his 17 off the bench on 4-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 performance from deep, to go along with seven made free throws. He also tallied a game-best and career-high-tying 14 rebounds for the double-double.
  • Jeremiah Williams managed 17 from six made field goals and a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the charity stripe.
  • Mack rounded out the Hoyas in double figures with 16 points on 50.0% (6-12) shooting from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The junior's four assists also paced the Hoya offense.
  • Julius Halaifonua registered a career-best-tying two blocks as the Blue & Gray tallied four on the night and J. Williams led the squad with a pair of steals.
  • For the game, Georgetown shot 39.3% (22-56) and 21.4% (3-14) from deep.
  • The Blue & Gray outrebounded the Blue Demons 42-30.
  • The Hoyas forced nine DPU turnovers on five steals.
 
BLUE DEMON HIGHLIGHTS
  • Layden Blocker led a duo of Blue Demons in doubles figures with 16 points on 5-for-14 from the field. NJ Benson followed with 12 on his own.
  • Benson grabbed a team-best seven rebounds for DPU.
  • Blocker paced the DePaul offense with a squad-best seven assists.
  • DePaul shot 34.5% (20-58) for the game and 42.9% (9-21) from beyond the arc.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • DePaul got on the board first, pulling ahead 4-0 before J. Williams got the Hoyas on the board with a layup to cut the deficit in half. The Blue Demons continued to pull ahead as the Hoyas faced some early shooting woes and led by as many as eight (17-9).
  • The Hoyas strung together a 12-2 run sparked by a Halaifonua dunk. A J. Williams triple gave the Hoyas some life and the run was capped by a pair of Mack buckets to knot the game at 19 apiece.
  • A DePaul trey ended the run as the sixth-seeded Blue Demons followed up with a layup to pull ahead five. However, out of the huddle, the Blue & Gray drew up a play to move the ball around the court as Halaifonua found an open Kayvaun Mulready for the one-handed dunk for the teams to go into the break with DePaul leading 24-21.
  • The Hoyas opened the second frame on six unanswered with a Mack layup sandwiched between a pair of J. Williams buckets for GU to take its first lead of the game, 27-24 (17:40). The lead was short-lived as another DePaul trey tied the game back up at 27.
  • A 7-1 Georgetown spurt featuring four points from Iwuchukwu pushed the Hoyas ahead 35-28 with 13:24 remaining in regulation. Despite the Blue Demons making it a two-possession game, the Blue & Gray strung together a 7-2 run sparked by a pair of J. Williams free throws and capped by a C. Williams bucket to take a 10-point advantage (42-32, 9:01).
  • A Halaifonua dunk pushed GU back up 10 but DePaul wouldn't go away, reeling off eight unanswered fueled by a pair of 3-pointers to make it a one-possession game forcing the GU timeout.
  • Out of the huddle, J. Williams came up with the jumper on the right side and after a stop on the other end, Mack came up with the offensive board and bucket to give GU some breathing room, 48-42. The Blue Demons kept clawing, nailing a 3-pointer on the other end to cut the deficit to three.
  • Out of the media timeout, it was all Iwuchukwu for the next minute of action as he drained a 3-pointer and followed up with a tip-in to push the lead back to eight (53-45). The Blue Demons cut it to six, but free throws down the stretch pushed GU's lead back to double digits, 59-49 with 31 ticks on the clock.
  • A battle from the charity stripe through the waning seconds provided the 63-56 final score at the last whistle.
 
OF NOTE
  • Iwuchukwu's 14 rebounds tied his career best that he set earlier this season in the game against then-No. 3 UConn on January 17, 2026.
  • The double-double was the fifth of the season for Iwuchukwu and the second time the senior has managed back-to-back double-doubles on the year as he is following up a double-double (25P/10R) against Providence to close the regular season.
  • A tale of two halves for Iwuchukwu, of his 17 points and 14 rebounds, he tallied 14 points and 11 boards in the second half alone, giving him double-double numbers in 12 second-half minutes.
 
HOYAS x THE BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
  • Georgetown improves to 58-38 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament with its first-ever win as the 11th seed. GU is an even 2-2 against DePaul in BET action and improve to 11-10 in the first round and 5-8 against the #6 seed.
  • The Hoyas now face third-seeded Villanova. The Blue & Gray is 6-2 all-time against the Wildcats in the BIG EAST Tournament with the last matchup occurring in the 2023 BIG EAST Tournament when the Hoyas fell 80-48 in the first round.
  • The last win for the Hoyas against Villanova in the BIG EAST Tournament was during the 2021 run, also in the quarterfinals, when the eighth-seeded Hoyas defeated the top-seeded Wildcats, 72-71. Georgetown went on to win the 2021 BIG EAST Tournament for its league-leading eighth tournament title.
  • GU is 23-12 all-time in the quarterfinals and 9-3 against the #3 seed.
  • In the all-time series against the 'Cats, Georgetown trails 53-47. Despite a Wildcat sweep during the regular season, the squads have split the last four games as the Blue & Gray completed the sweep last season.
  • Cooley is 10-23 all-time against Villanova and sits at 14-16 against Villanova Head Coach Kevin Willard.
 
UP NEXT
Georgetown returns to action on Thursday, March 12 in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals in New York. The 11th-seeded Hoyas will face third-seeded Villanova. Tipoff at the World's Most Famous Arena is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Gus Johnson calling the play-by-play, Bill Raftery providing analysis and Alison Williams reporting from the sidelines. 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.
 
 
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