Georgetown went 7-3 against Villanova during Patrick Ewing’s playing career.
But Ewing’s coaching debut against his old collegiate rival Wednesday was a night to forget — a loss nowhere near as close as the legendary 1985 national championship game that Ewing’s Hoyas lost by two.
The No. 1-ranked Wildcats shot 60 percent from the field and 17-for-33 from the 3-point arc Wednesday night while Georgetown converted a meager 4-for-15 from long range, and the top team in the nation won 88-56 in a game that was really over by halftime.
Jessie Govan led the Hoyas with 12 points and Marcus Derrickson had eight, but Georgetown (12-6, 2-5 Big East) made just 39.3 percent of their field goal attempts and shot just 4-for-15 from long range. The Hoyas are now 2-5 in the Big East after starting Ewing’s debut season 10-1.
Afterwards, a dejected Ewing wanted to look ahead, but he and Villanova coach Jay Wright had only respectful things to say about each other’s programs.
“You make mistakes. The team that makes the fewest mistakes is the team that wins. You take your hat off to them,” Ewing said. “They’re a good ball club. They’re ranked number one for a reason.”
Wright said he didn’t believe “the score is indicative of the difference in these teams.”
“We have great respect. Patrick’s doing a great job with this program. They’re very organized. They know what they want to do and he’s gonna build this thing,” Wright said.”
After scoring on the game’s opening possession, Georgetown went cold for about 4:30 while Villanova (17-1, 5-1 Big East) got rolling, scoring 11 straight points with 3-pointers by Phil Booth and Eric Paschall.
The Hoyas were able to draw within five after that. Kaleb Johnson provided the team’s most electrifying play of the half when he blocked a Jalen Brunson layup off the glass to allow Jagan Mosely to take it the other way for two points.
The Hoyas were only down 13-8 at that moment, but didn’t appear ready for what happened next.
The Wildcats uncorked an 18-0 run that included five 3-pointers, baskets by four different players and no missed shots.
After starting the game 0-for-3 from the field, Jalen Brunson, Villanova’s leading scorer, got on the board with a 3-pointer. Booth drew a foul on the next possession and converted a four-point play.
The Hoyas had no offensive or defensive answers for a run that lasted just 3:49 of game time and ran the score to 31-8. By halftime the Wildcats were 10-for-19 from three, and Georgetown was 0-for-8.
Govan got hot late in the half and kept Georgetown alive with high-percentage shots. He finished the half with 10 points, but with his team down 42-20.
“With the 3-point line, there’s certain nights like this when someone just gets it going, (or) they have a lot of shooters, it’s gonna happen,” Wright said of his team. “And the next time you play it could be a two-point game.”
Villanova opened the second half with an 18-2 run interrupted only by a Jamorko Pickett dunk. Kaleb Johnson ended the run when he made Georgetown’s first 3-pointer of the game, 5:15 into the second half.
The Wildcats’ six players with the most minutes all reached double figures in scoring. Brunson finished with 18 points to lead all scorers, Bridges had 17 and Omari Spellman had 14.
Georgetown caught up a bit at the end only when Villanova subbed in some non-scholarship players. Ewing played his starters for most of the second half until subbing three out in the last three minutes.
Villanova has spent five of the last six weeks atop the Associated Press poll. The Wildcats vacated it as punishment for their only loss of the season, Dec. 30 against Butler, but returned to the top spot one week later.
Villanova entered Wednesday’s games with the sixth-best scoring offense in the country (88.3 ppg), seventh in 3-pointers made per game (11.2) and 11th in 3-point percentage (41.4 percent). Georgetown was top-30 in the nation in 3-point defense, allowing 30.8 percent a game, but their defense was uninspired and at times fully absent Wednesday.
When Ewing was told about Wright’s compliments of his program after the game, the Hoyas coach was gracious but still forward-looking.
“He’s a good man,” he said. “I’ve had my butt kicked before. Fortunately it was as a player. All I can do is just get ready for the next one. Can’t dwell on it, just gotta look at the film and get ready for the next game.”
It was the first of three straight home games for the Hoyas. They’ll play again Saturday against St. John’s and Jan. 24 against DePaul.
Georgetown has one more date with Villanova, the March 3 regular season finale in Pennsylvania.
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