In a nail-biting Big East matchup, the Georgetown Hoyas hung on for a 61-60 win against the Seton Hall Pirates Dec. 22. Sitting at 10-2, the Hoyas’ win total this season already bests their 2023-24 campaign, even with conference play having started last week.
Georgetown (10-2, 2-0 Big East) entered the game with the chance to keep their loss column clean after beating Creighton (8-5, 1-1 Big East) in an emphatic 81-57 win Wednesday, Dec. 18. The Hoyas knew the Pirates (5-8, 0-2 Big East) had been down on their luck, losing three in a row before Sunday night’s head-to-head, but also that their rivals were particularly dangerous, having beaten Georgetown in each of their last seven matchups. Nevertheless, the Hoyas showed their mettle in a season so far defined by an early buildup of exhilaration and a standout cast of players up and down the roster.
In a show of force, Georgetown’s starters — junior guard Jayden Epps, graduate guard Micah Peavy, first-year forward Caleb Williams, sophomore forward Drew Fielder and first-year center Thomas Sorber — accounted for 56 of the team’s 61 points. Capitalizing off their strong performances, the Hoyas led for the vast majority of the game, but had to successfully execute a last-minute defensive stop after the Pirates scored 10 unanswered points late in the second half. Still, Georgetown shot the ball far better, beating Seton Hall in overall field goal percentage (53.5% to 29.9%) and 3-point field goal percentage (33.3% to 12.5%). While the Hoyas did not grab as many boards as the Pirates (32 to 39), their humming offense kept the team ahead and ultimately delivered a welcome holiday season win.
Sprinting out the gate, the Hoyas went on a 10-3 run that featured Fielder and Sorber working the paint while Epps dialed up a layup and a 3-pointer. Pirates Head Coach Shaheen Holloway called a timeout less than 4 minutes into the game to recalibrate his team, but the break seemingly did not interrupt the Hoyas’ early momentum. After a Fielder block on the other end of the court, Peavy converted a layup under the basket for his first points of the game. Sorber followed up with a jumper for a 14-3 Georgetown lead.
Pirates guard Jasheem Felton closed the gap with back-to-back jumpers over the next minute, helping his team find the footing it lacked since the opening tipoff. However, the Hoyas responded in kind with 2 layups in 2 minutes. The teams went at each other for much of the rest of the first half, but each time Seton Hall started to creep closer toward Georgetown, the Hoyas managed to pull away once again. As a result, Georgetown entered the halftime break 32-23, ahead of Seton Hall by a sizable 9 points.
The second half featured all-around contributions from Georgetown. Williams put a pair of 3-pointers in the basket and sophomore guard Curtis Williams Jr. came off the bench to convert a three. Other players on the floor kept up Georgetown’s dominance. Sorber slammed a dunk home for the Hoyas to go up 50-41 and two possessions later, the newly subbed-in sophomore forward Jordan Burks did the same for a 53-43 Georgetown lead. Peavy was also active on both sides of the court, tallying four assists on offense and one timely block on defense.
Even with many successful pieces in play, the Hoyas still struggled on several fronts, keeping the game close heading into the final minutes. The team surrendered 19 turnovers, directly leading to 13 Seton Hall points, and failed to land several rebounds that could have put the game away for good. In particular, Seton Hall guard Isaiah Coleman came down with 9 rebounds (7 offensive, 2 defensive) to give the Pirates a serious fighting chance when the Hoyas failed to score from 3:51 left until the game clock expired. Though this put Georgetown in an undesirable position for the last 36 seconds, the Hoyas ultimately put on a stout last-minute defensive performance to keep the score at 61-60 and seal the win.
On the night, Sorber led Georgetown in scoring with 19 points and rebounding with 8 boards, also notching 4 blocks and 2 assists. In his second career start, fellow first-year Williams added 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Their performances, along with those of Epps, Peavy and Fielder, more than made up for sophomore guard Malik Mack’s absence from the game with a lower body injury. For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the Hoyas start Big East play 2-0 with only room to advance their standing in the conference from here on out.
Georgetown will next face the Coppin State Bald Eagles (1-12) Saturday, Dec. 28 at 12 p.m. in Capital One Arena before continuing their homestand and resuming Big East play against the Xavier Musketeers (8-5, 0-2 Big East) Friday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m.