Villanova Wildcats at Georgetown Hoyas

Gillespie scores 28, No. 11 Villanova beats Georgetown 85-74

Gillespie connected on 6 of 9 3-pointers, including four in the second half. Villanova erased an eight-point, second-half deficit to continue its dominance over Georgetown. The Wildcats (14-5, 7-2 Big East) have won five of six over the Hoyas and 17 of the last 20.

“I was just playing off my jump shot, taking what I saw,” Gillespie said. “We don’t care if it looks good or it’s ugly, we are going to make those plays.”

Gillespie finished two points shy of matching his career-high 30, which came against Georgetown on Feb. 3, 2019.

Collin Holloway led Georgetown (6-10, 0-5) with a career-high 25 points and Dante Harris added 17. Georgetown has lost six straight and now starts Big East play with five straight losses for the first time in program history.

Jermaine Samuels had 18 points for Villanova, which avoided back-to-back losses after dropping a rare home game to Marquette on Wednesday. The Wildcats shot 53.6 % from the field and made all 16 free throws.

Coach Jay Wright's program improved to 23-13 all-time against Georgetown.

“Good road victory…I’m proud of our guys,” Wright said after his Wildcats improved to 4-1 on the road in the Big East. “If you can win on the road, you’ve done something special.”

Georgetown led 47-39 a few minutes into the second half after a Holloway 3-pointer. Villanova used a 9-0 run to regain the lead and then led most of the way. Aminu Mohammed added 13 points for Georgetown.

Four of Georgetown’s five conference losses have come by double digits.

“It’s disappointing that we let this one slip away,” said Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing. “We were right there.”

Villanova last trailed after a Holloway layup with 10:43 left put the Hoyas up 56-55. Gillespie nailed two of his 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and Georgetown never got closer than three the rest of the way.

BIG PICTURE

Villanova: The Wildcats responded after their rare home loss to keep pace just behind Providence at the top of the Big East standings. Villanova last lost consecutive conference games in the 2019-20 season when they dropped three in a row to Creighton, Butler and Seton Hall in early February 2020.

Georgetown: The Hoyas are in danger of posting a second losing record in the last three seasons under Ewing. In his fifth season back at the school he led to the 1984 National Championship, Ewing has just one winning season at Georgetown and fell to 68-69 all-time.

ALL TIED UP

Villanova tied up the all-time series at 45 with the win on Saturday. The last time the series was tied came in the 1981 season at 7-7. Georgetown led the series 42-28 after a win in 2012.

UP NEXT

Villanova: Host DePaul on Tuesday night. Villanova beat the Blue Demons 79-64 on Jan. 8.

Georgetown: The Hoyas play at No. 25 UConn on Tuesday night. The Huskies swept Georgetown last season.

How can I watch Villanova vs. Georgetown?

• TV Channel: Villanova at Georgetown 2021 College Basketball, week 11, is broadcasted on FOX.
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