In a hotly anticipated matchup, the Georgetown University men’s basketball team capped off their season with a loss to the Providence Friars, first-year Head Coach Ed Cooley’s former team, falling 74-56 in Madison Square Garden in the first round of the Big East Tournament on March 13.

Before the game, Friar fans met Cooley, who was at the helm at Providence for 12 seasons, with jeers. But it was more than their fans’ support which propelled Providence (21-12, 10-10 Big East) to victory over Georgetown (9-23, 2-18 Big East). Rather, it was Georgetown’s unbalanced offense and lack of discipline on defense. 

Sophomore guard Jayden Epps scored Georgetown’s opening 7 points, a trend which would become the story of the game for the Hoyas. Despite his output, Georgetown’s slow rotations and soft on-ball defense allowed Providence to get off to a 20-7 start with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half. 

However, the Hoyas matched the strong Friar start with a 14-8 run of their own to cut the lead to seven points with 9:25 left in the first half. But of those 14 points, Epps contributed 9, displaying Hoyas’ offensive imbalance. 

Time and again, the Hoyas’ offense relied on Epps to make plays, and in the first half he frequently answered the call. The rest of the team, however, could not say the same, fostering an unimaginative, static offense.

The 7-point deficit was the closest Georgetown would get the rest of the game. From that point, with 9:25 remaining in the first half, Providence marched to a 12-6 run to head into the locker room with a 40-27 lead. 

Although Providence guard Devin Carter was crowned Big East Player of the Year earlier in the day, much of the Friars’ first-half offense ran through forward Josh Oduro, who had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the opening frame. 

On offense, the Hoyas looked like a one-man show starring Epps. Although Epps had 19 points in the first half, Cooley would need to get more out of his supporting cast in the second half if the Hoyas were to turn the game around. 

Out of the gates of the second half, Providence was hot, scoring five straight on their way to a 45-27 lead with 18:25 remaining. The scoring run forced Cooley to call a timeout to reset the defense, installing a somewhat successful full-court press.

Georgetown countered with a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to bring the deficit to single digits, trailing 49-40. During the stretch, the Hoyas were led by Epps, who tallied 6 points, with a highlight reverse dunk coming from junior guard Dontrez Styles off an alley-oop pass from first-year guard Rowan Brumbaugh.

Although a series of defensive stops provided the Hoyas with a chance to claw their way back, the team was unable to capitalize on the additional possessions. 

With 10:50 remaining, the Friars took a decisive 55-41 lead, behind 3-point makes by Oduro and guard Ticket Gaines.

Oduro torched the Hoyas for 20 points and 9 rebounds on the day, acting as a matchup nightmare for Georgetown forwards senior Supreme Cook and first-year Drew Fielder. No one on the Hoyas’ roster could match Oduro’s 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame, as he drew 9 fouls and consistently found open 3-point looks for his teammates.

With 6:28 remaining in the second half, two Oduro free throws gave Providence a 63-47 lead. 

However, Georgetown countered with a 9-1 run of its own to bring themselves within eight points, down 64-56 with 3:43 left to play. Fielder was impressive during this frame, recording all 8 of his points on two 3-pointers and a layup.

Nonetheless, the Friars dominated over the last three minutes of play, ending the game on a 10-0 run to seal the 74-56 victory. Carter was instrumental in the Friars’ push to the finish, tallying 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal in those final few minutes.

Shooting woes plagued the Hoyas throughout the game — the team ended the game with a 40.7% field goal percentage, including 8-24 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc — but their free throw shooting was particularly dismal, representing missed opportunities for points throughout what was a closer second half.

Georgetown shot 4-19 from the charity stripe, including 2-14 in the second half. That put the team’s free throw percentage — 21.1% — markedly lower than their 33.3% 3-point percentage.

Epps finished with a game-high 30 points, his seventh 30-plus point performance of the season and the highest Hoya output in the Big East tournament since Jeff Green (COL ’07) in 2007, but Georgetown struggled to find offense when the ball was not in his hands. Epps was the only Hoya to score in double figures.

Epps said Cooley’s game plan focused on exploiting his sharpshooting skills. 

“My teammates were finding me. Obviously it wasn’t enough for us to get the win,” Epps said in a postgame press conference. “He dialed me up. And whenever it’s called, I try to deliver.” 

At the end of his first season at the helm of the Georgetown program, Cooley was candid about the team’s struggles and the road ahead.

“This has been a very challenging year, an emotional year. I wish I could have done a much better job with them over the course of the 32 games we played,” he said in the post-game press conference. “It didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but it’s an opportunity for us to grow, get better.”

With a strong recruiting class committed and some transfer pieces expected, Cooley said he hopes to continue to build off this season’s key players in his second season. 

“Obviously, we gotta add some pieces. Right?” he added. “We have a really young core that’s coming in. You know, we feel we have a good nucleus, so there will be some carryover.”

However, Cooley shared a message for students and fans as the program continues its rebuild, urging them to remain faithful.

“Stay with us,” he told The Hoya after the game. “Trust what we’re doing, it’s hard. Our actions will speak louder than our words as we continue to build our team.”