KJ Lewis scored a game-high 26 points as visiting Georgetown erased a 21-point second-half deficit to defeat Providence 81-78 in a Big East matchup Saturday.
Providence (9-11, 2-7 Big East) trailed by three with 13 seconds to play, but Jaylin Sellers’ 3-point shot at the buzzer was blocked by Kayvaun Mulready.
Lewis has scored in double figures in 17 of Georgetown’s 20 games. Vince Iwuchukwu added 16 points for the Hoyas (10-10, 2-7 Big East), who scored 56 points in the second half.
The victory ended Georgetown’s six-game losing streak.
Sellers led Providence with 18 points. Jamier Jones and Stefan Vaaks each finished with 14. The loss dropped Providence’s home record to 7-4.
The Friars were again without senior guard Jason Edwards, who has missed the last four games with a foot injury. Edwards, the No. 2 scorer in the Big East (17.2), had a walking boot on his right foot Saturday.
Providence began to take control midway through the first half. A Corey Floyd Jr. layup gave the Friars their first double-digit lead, 23-13, with 8:17 remaining in the half. It was 28-15 after a Ryan Mela 3-pointer, and 32-17 following a Jones dunk.
Vaaks pushed the lead to 43-25 when he capped the first-half scoring on a 3-pointer with 54 seconds on the clock.
The Friars shot 50 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes (15 of 30). Georgetown was 1 of 12 from 3-point territory in the half.
The Hoyas trailed 48-27 early in the second half but climbed back into the game with a 12-0 run during which they made 9 of 10 field goals. Lewis ended the run with a layup that sliced the Providence lead to 64-60 with 5:43 to play.
Georgetown had its first lead since it was 6-5 after Caleb Williams made a 3-pointer that put the Hoyas up 72-71 with 2:55 left.
–Field Level Media
