The Georgetown University men’s basketball team bookended their non-conference season with a commanding 97-67 win over the Coppin State University Eagles Dec. 22 at McDonough Arena.
While Head Coach Ed Cooley was absent to serve a one-game suspension for throwing a water bottle into the crowd last game, the Hoyas (9-4, 1-1 Big East) looked as sure as they have all year in a buy game. Meanwhile, the Eagles (2-14) rounded out a long and tough non-conference schedule that had only one home game, appearing outmatched from the opening tip.
Georgetown Athletics never made tickets for this game readily available to the public, and the reported 1,463 attendees were an optimistic count dispersed throughout the arena and quiet as the game remained a relatively uncompetitive domination.
Jeff Battle, Georgetown’s associate head coach, stepped in for Cooley. As the flu continued to travel through the Hoyas’ locker room, sophomore forward Caleb Williams missed the game, and Battle tapped sophomore forward Jayden Fort to take Williams’ place in the lineup.
Georgetown dominated the first half from the jump. The Hoyas quickly opened up an 8-0 lead in the game’s first three minutes and sat at a 10-3 advantage at the first media timeout. The break did not interrupt Georgetown’s domination, though.
In the first half, the Hoyas knocked down practically everything, nearly doubling Coppin State’s scoring numbers. Into the break, Georgetown led 53-25 thanks to 7 made 3-pointers on 14 attempts and a 60% field goal percentage. The Eagles also gave the ball away 8 times in the first half — 7 of those turnovers coming on steals — and shot only 27% from beyond the arc.
Three Hoyas reached double digits going into the break as well. Sophomore forward Isaiah Abraham, junior guard KJ Lewis and sophomore center Julius Halaifonua had 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively. Lewis also had 5 rebounds and 5 assists in just 14 minutes of playing time.
In the second half, Coppin State came out slightly more competitive, but the massive margin from the first put the Hoyas out of their reach. The Eagles began the half on a 13-8 run to make the game 61-38.
However, even as Georgetown’s shooting slowed, Coppin State was unable to get within reach. Battle rotated in most of his bench, even as the Hoyas only outscored the Eagles by 2 in the second half.
Halaifonua led the Hoyas in scoring, with 20 points at the final buzzer, and added 8 rebounds. In the final minute of the game, sophomore guard Mason Moses scored his first collegiate points, knocking down 2 free throws.
After the game, Battle said he was proud of the team’s performance following a frustrating last-minute loss in the Big East home opener earlier in the week.
“Really good outing for our guys,” Battle said at the postgame press conference. “It was a good bounceback from the Xavier game. We really honed in on what we needed to do better in terms of watching the film from Xavier. Really proud of our guys though — they showed a lot of maturity, a lot of leadership.”
Despite the unusual circumstances leading to his coaching the team, Battle said not much changed from the Hoyas’ usual routines in Cooley’s absence.
“Just dealing a little bit with the media before the game,” Battle said. “I told these guys before the game even started: Just go out and play. I just want you to play. Don’t worry about mistakes. Don’t worry about missing shots. Just play.”
Fort, who finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks, said the team’s playstyle did not change.
“We played kind of similar to how we played with Coach Cooley,” Fort said at the postgame press conference. “It was fun out there. His telling us, ‘Go out there and hoop,’ gave us some confidence. It was fun to go out there and play.”
The Hoyas return to conference play New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. hosting St. John’s University (7-4, 1-0 Big East), who recently fell out of the Associated Press top 25 poll but remain a formidable opponent, at Capital One Arena.
