Nova Overcomes 18-Point Deficit to Beat Georgetown

The Wildcats are 1-0 in Big East play and will face Butler for their second conference game this season on Wednesday night. (Image Courtesy of Villanova Athletics).

"We didn't make any great changes in the second half," stated Wright on his team's second half adjustments. "I just thought we got comfortable with what they were doing and defended it better."

Article by Dave Nguyen, AKSM Sports

WASHINGTON - The ninth ranked Villanova Wildcats overcame an 18-point first half deficit to defeat the Georgetown Hoyas 76-63 in their Big East opener on Friday night. The win marked the ninth consecutive victory in a conference opener since 2012.

"It was a Big East battle," said Head Coach Jay Wright. "They were prepared for everything we did in the first half. They just sliced us. We had some good shots, and didn't make them, but we couldn't stop them. Everything we tried to do, they had an answer for."

With 4:45 remaining in the first half, Villanova trailed 40-22, as Georgetown was hitting on all cylinders right from the opening tip. In the first three and a half minutes, the Hoyas jumped out to a 9-4 lead. A 10-6 Hoyas run in the next three minutes increased their lead to 19-10. The Wildcats would respond with a 6-0 run, capped by a triple from Justin Moore, making the score 19-16 at the 12 minute mark. Minutes later, the Hoyas caught fire and jumped out to a 10-2 run, including triples from guards Donald Carey and Jahvon Blair, to make the score in its favor at 29-18. What made Georgeown effective in the first half was their three-point shooting, as they connected on 5-of-8 in the game's first 11 minutes, while the Wildcats were 3-of-12 beyond the arc.

Another triple by Carey made the score 40-22, which sparked the Wildcats to intensify its defense and pick up its slack on the offensive end in the last 4:45 of the opening stanza. Two threes by Colling Gillespie, another one from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and a monstrous slam-dunk from Brandon Slater ignited an 11-6 run by Villanova to close out the half. Still, the Wildcats were down 46-33 after 20 minutes of play. Wright knew at halftime his defense needed to adjust due to the quickness of Georgetown's guards.

"Defensively," Wright said, "we were a step behind everything they did."

The momentum of the end of the first half continued in the opening minutes of the second, as Villanova bursted for a 14-4 run that included two more triples from Gillespie and another from Cole Swider, making the score 50-47 in favor of Georgetown. The senior guard knocked down his third triple of the half to tie the game at 50, and assisted on one from Caleb Daniels in the corner to give Villanova its first lead of the game at 53-50. Within that span Villanova was 5-of-6 from downtown. From the 13:40 mark to the 4:23 mark on the clock, both teams would trade baskets as it was a back-and-forth contest, reminiscent of the historic rivalry between the two schools. At that point, a Daniels three gave the Wildcats a 63-61 lead. The Tulane transfer had 18 points on the night, bouncing back from a two-point performance against Texas. With under three and a half to play, he hit another one from the left corner to give Villanova a 68-61 commanding lead. In the last three minutes of the game the Hoyas made only one basket, coming from forward Jamarko Pickett, who finished with a team high 16 points. In that span, the Wildcats closed out on an 8-2 run, converting six from the charity stripe, three of which from Gillespie who also finished with 18 points.

"We didn't make any great changes in the second half," stated Wright on his team's second half adjustments. "I just thought we got comfortable with what they were doing and defended it better."

To put in perspective of Villanova's second half performance, it outscored the Hoyas 43-17, shooting 50% from the floor (13-26), 47/1% from three (8-17), and converted 9-of-14 from the foul-line. What was more impressive was its defense: Georgetown shot 8-30 from the floor (26.7%), a measly 1-of-11 from beyond the arc, and never attempted a free-throw.

The Wildcats are 1-0 in Big East play and will face Butler for their second conference game this season on Wednesday night. This will mark Villanova's first home game at Finneran Pavilion after its previous three were postponed. Coverage begins at 7pm on FS1.