In the third year of the Ed Cooley era, the Georgetown University men’s basketball team clinched last place in the Big East before the final game of the season. All that was at stake for the Hoyas was pride and the opportunity to snap a 7-game losing streak, salvage something from a disappointing conference season and honor the team’s seniors.
Georgetown (14-17, 6-14 Big East) did exactly that, securing a season sweep against the Providence College Friars (14-17, 7-13 Big East) and finally coming out on the winning end of a close game. The Hoyas beat the Friars 80-79 on March 7 at Capital One Arena behind a standout senior night performance from senior center Vince Iwuchukwu.
Georgetown won the opening tip and graduate guard Jeremiah Williams, who was also honored on senior night, opened the scoring with a second-chance layup. Providence responded quickly; forward Jamier Jones scored on their third chance to tie the game at 2, and from there, the two teams were locked in close combat for much of the first half.
By the under-12 timeout, Providence held a narrow 14-13 lead, and neither team could differentiate themselves. The Hoyas struggled with some early foul trouble, ending up in the penalty with just under 10 minutes of the first half left.
Into the under-8 timeout, the Iwuchukwu takeover began. He slammed home a vicious alley-oop to highlight a 7-0 run and a 26-19 lead into that break. (Iwuchukwu did miss a wide-open 3-pointer right before the timeout — the only major blemish on his day.)
Nothing said in the Providence huddle could stop Iwuchukwu, who nailed another slam dunk to give the Hoyas a 37-27 lead into the under-4 timeout. Iwuchukwu controlled the first half offensively, recording 12 points. His final statline was just as impressive: a career-high 25 points, 10 rebounds and 1 assist.
Into halftime, Georgetown held their narrow lead at 43-34. Alongside Iwuchukwu, junior guard Malik Mack was a key first-half contributor with 11 points.
However, as has often been the case this season, Providence came out of the locker room and almost immediately took back the lead. It took just three minutes for the Friars to tie the game up after beginning the half on a 10-2 run. Into the under-16 timeout, Providence held a 52-49 lead.
Out of that break, the Friars jumped out to a 7-point lead, but another Iwuchukwu slam dunk kept the game within reach. From there, Providence held the lead until the final stretch of the game.
With the clock reaching the final five minutes, the Hoyas began to put together a run to reclaim the lead. Iwuchukwu, always at the center of the action, nailed a poster slam dunk to give Georgetown a 76-75 lead in the midst of a 10-0 run. A second Iwuchukwu dunk forced Providence to take their final timeout trailing 80-75.
The Friars did make a final run at it, getting a quick 3-pointer from Jones and going back to the free-throw line — where guard Jaylin Sellers made his first free throw but missed his second. However, Providence was still not out. The missed free throw was called out of bounds on the Hoyas, and the Friars had a baseline out-of-bounds with the chance to win the game. The opportunity was all for nought, as Williams intercepted the inbound to secure a Georgetown win.
After the game, Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley said he was happy to finally win a close game and hopes to carry that momentum into the tournament.
“Clearly the results have shown we can play with anybody in this league,” Cooley told The Hoya. “I think we’ve had three bad Big East games. Three out of 20 is not bad, and if you look around the league, I’m pretty sure all the coaches can say the same thing. We didn’t land the plane in those other games. Today, we did.”
“We can compete with anybody. It’s just a mindset. It’s a matter of will and determination, and a little bit of luck. But, we gotta create that luck,” Cooley added.
In the past week, rumors of Providence Head Coach Kim English’s firing have been widely reported. During the postgame press conference, English deflected questions about his employment status, instead saying he felt blessed to be in his current position.
“There’s been no news in our program,” English said at the postgame press conference. “We talk about everything every day.”
“I get to coach a basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. Tehran, Iran, is pressure right now, or living in Haiti or Gaza. That’s pressure right now. We’re playing and coaching basketball,” he added.
English said Iwuchukwu had been a formidable foe for his squad.
“He’s tough. He’s big. He’s a great athlete,” English said. “He plays hard, and when he plays the Friars, he turns into Kevin Garnett as a jump shooter.”
Cooley has previously said he intends to apply for an extra year of eligibility for Iwuchukwu, who has struggled with injuries in his career. As of now, Iwuchukwu is out of eligibility after this season.
Iwuchukwu said he was happy to play in front of his family in what may have been his final college home game.
“My sisters haven’t come to watch a game while here, and they were here tonight,” Iwuchukwu told The Hoya. “I was surprised today when my sister — she’s in my dorm room randomly. Just seeing her there, it brought me so much joy. There’s a lot of emotions for me. It’s hard for us to be together like that, so I’m glad they were here, and I had to play for them.”
The Hoyas are the 11th seed in the Big East tournament and will face the sixth seed DePaul University Blue Demons (16-15, 8-12 Big East) at Madison Square Garden on March 11 at 9 p.m.
