 beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2017, and second-year coach Patrick Ewing earned his first win against a Top-25 foe in eight tries.James Akinjo had 10 points and nine assists as the Hoyas ended a two-game slide and beat Villanova at home for the first time since 2015.Villanova (20-7, 11-3) lost consecutive conference games for the first time since realignment in 2013 - a span of 104 games.Phil Booth had 26 points, and Eric Paschall added 16 as Villanova lost for the third time in four conference games after starting 10-0 in Big East play. Colin Gillespie scored 13 points after having a career-high 30 in the teams' first meeting.The Hoyas took a 42-32 lead into halftime after shooting 7 of 18 from 3-point distance. McClung scored 17 of his 21 points in the first period.Villanova cut the Hoyas' lead to 50-43 after Booth hit a 3-pointer, but Georgetown responded with an 8-0 run as a 3 by Govan pushed the lead to 58-43 with 13:13 left. The Wildcats never got closer than nine the rest of the way.Georgetown shot 51 percent from the field and held Villanova to just 38 percent. The Hoyas' bench outscored the Wildcats' subs 22-9. Kaleb Johnson led the way for Georgetown with eight points.BIG PICTUREVillanova: After winning the first four regular-season championships in the reconfigured Big East, the Wildcats are now in danger of finishing second for a second straight season after moving one game behind Marquette in the loss column.Georgetown: The Hoyas have already surpassed last season's win total of 15 games with five games remaining before the conference tournament. Georgetown finished 5-13 in league play in each of the last two seasons.UP NEXTVillanova: Completes a three-game trip at Xavier on Sunday.Georgetown: At Creighton on Saturday.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 19, 2019The No. 17-ranked Villanova Wildcats will look to rebound after a disappointing six-point loss at St. John's on Sunday.The Wildcats will travel down I-95 to face Big East rival Georgetown on Wednesday night.Villanova (20-6, 11-2) built a 29-10 lead against St. John's but couldn't hold on. The Wildcats' perimeter defense was terrific in the first half as St. John's shot 0 for 9 from beyond the arc. In the second half, the Red Storm were 8 for 14.That was the difference in the game."There was great energy in the Garden and it was great Big East basketball," Villanova head coach Jay Wright told reporters. "I thought in the first half we were good. In the second half, they just took us out of it. They took us out of everything. We couldn't execute any offense. A lot of our turnovers and missed shots turned into transition baskets for them. That was the game. This really was the tale of two halves." Joe Cremo paced led Villanova with 14 points. Seniors Phil Booth scored 13 points while Eric Paschall recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. For the most part, Booth and Paschall were uncharacteristically ineffective down the stretch."Credit St. John's," Wright told reporters. "They were tough and physical and took us out of everything we tried to do in the second half." Still, Villanova continued to receive production from ever-improving freshman forward Saddiq Bey, who was named the Big East Freshman of the Week. Bey scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds against St. John's.Georgetown last played on Feb. 13 when it fell 90-75 at Seton Hall. The loss dropped the Hoyas to 15-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference.Jessie Govan led the way with 20 points while Greg Malinowski added 16.The schedule becomes even tougher for Georgetown as it looks to snap a nine-game losing streak to Villanova. The Wildcats have won by an average of 17 points in their last nine wins over the Hoyas. Georgetown's last win in the series came on Jan. 19, 2015, a 78-58 victory.Following the 15-point loss to the Pirates, Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said that he was extremely disappointed."They beat us in all phases of the game," Ewing told reporters. "We were poor defensively. We didn't execute our offense well. We didn't show up." If the Hoyas harbor aspirations of upsetting Villanova, they'll need another strong performance from Govan. Last week, Govan was named as one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award honoring the top center in college basketball.Govan leads the Hoyas in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (7.8). He has seven double-double this season while also crossing the 1,500-point plateau for his career.The Hoyas have dropped three of their last four games, including two in a row. The last time they face Villanova, they lost 77-65 on Feb. 3.After winning 76-67 on the road against Providence on Feb. 6, they have lost consecutive games to Butler and Seton Hall.The Hoyas are 10-5 at home.
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