Georgetown buries Villanova behind 17 3’s

#1 Georgetown 82 - #8 Villanova 63

Villanova didn’t have a problem quieting first-team All-Big East center Roy Hibbert, but the Wildcats couldn’t stop Georgetown from making noise from downtown. Even though the game is over, if you look up, the Hoyas are still raining down 3s on Villanova.

Georgetown set a school record and tied a Big East tournament record with 17 3-pointers as No.9 Georgetown thumped Villanova 82-63 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup. The Hoyas were 17-of-28 from beyond the arc, led by Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp. Sapp head a career high 23 points, nailing 6-of-9 3-pointers, and Wallace finished with 20, 19 coming in the first half. Wallace finished the afternoon shooting 7-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Wallace nailed all five 3-point attempts in the first half.

Scottie Reynolds had 13 points for Villanova, who erased an 11-point deficit for the second day in a row. Down 40-29 at the half, Villanova stormed out of the gate in the second half, going on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to one. Moments later, the Wildcats took their first lead of the game, 44-43 with 13:41 left in the game. The Wildcats were nipping at Georgetown’s heels the entire way, due to their ability to find their way to the free throw line. Villanova attempted 18 free throws in the first half and went 23-of-28 from the line for the game. Villanova’s last lead of the game came at 50-48, until Sapp’s three-point play gave Georgetown a 51-50 lead, and the pull away began for the Hoyas. A trio of Wildcats, Antonio Pena, Dwayne Anderson, and Dante Cunningham each finished with 12 points. After a torrid game against Syracuse yesterday, Corey Stokes was held to eight points on just 2-of-12 shooting.

Sapp, DaJuan Summers (19 points), and Patrick Ewing Jr. propelled Georgetown to run away from the Wildcats, ending the game on a 31-13 run. Villanova’s hopes ended when Reynolds had to go to the bench after a cut above his right eye suffered in the first half, reopened in the second half. Reynolds spent nearly six minutes on the bench, and the Hoyas took advantage with an 8-0 run.

Georgetown center Roy Hibbert was a nonfactor, finishing with no points for the first time since 2005 and grabbing four rebounds. Hibbert was slowed by foul trouble all afternoon, spending the better portion of the game next to his coach, John Thompson III before fouling out with just over five minutes to play.

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Georgetown improved to 13-0 as a No.1 seed in the Big East tournament, and the Hoyas are now riding a five-game winning streak. Georgetown has also won their past five meetings against Villanova in the Big East tournament since 1985. Georgetown advances to the Big East semifinals for the second straight year. The Hoyas will square off against No.5 seeded West Virginia on Friday night at 7 p.m.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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