Al-Amir Dawes scored 21 of his career-high 24 points in the second half as Seton Hall pulled away from Georgetown 66-51 on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C.
After shooting 1-for-4 from the field in the first half, Dawes came out firing in the second period and bombarded the Hoyas with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting (3-for-3 on 3-pointers) before the first media timeout as the Pirates sprung to a 40-34 lead.
Dawes continued his second-half scoring spree with back-to-back fastbreak layups that spelled a Georgetown timeout with 12:52 to play and Seton Hall leading by nine.
The Pirates (10-8, 3-4 Big East) stretched their lead to 59-46 on Tray Jackson’s rim-rocking dunk with 5:50 remaining. Georgetown (5-13, 0-7) never drew within closer than 10 and finished the night shooting a lowly 20-of-64 (31.3 percent).
Dawes finished the game 5-for-9 from the arc. Jamir Harris added nine points on three 3-pointers off the bench.
Other than being outrebounded 43-41, Seton Hall controlled virtually every aspect of the game. The Pirates held comfortable advantages in 3-point percentage (37.5 percent to the Hoyas’ 16.7 percent), second-chance points (16-8), bench points (22-11) and fastbreak points (13-4).
Playing without injured guards Brandon Murray (15 points per game) and Jay Heath (13.4), the Hoyas relied on a quartet of scorers to supplement their depleted backcourt. Primo Spears, Akok Akok and Jordan Riley all scored nine points, and Bryson Mozone contributed seven.
Most of the first half was devoid of any offensive rhythm as both teams struggled to generate crisp possessions. Neither squad reached the 20-point plateau until Spears canned a jumper with 2:25 remaining in the half that put Georgetown ahead 21-19.
The Hoyas shot 10-of-34 (29.4 percent) from the field in the first half, including a dismal 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) clip from beyond the arc, while the Pirates salvaged a horrid 6-of-27 start from the field by making their last five shots of the half, including a pair of triples by Harris.
Kadary Richmond made Seton Hall’s lone free throw of the first period with three seconds left to knot the contest at 27 entering the break.
The Hoyas have dropped eight in a row and a conference record 27 straight. Their last regular-season league win came on March 2, 2021, when they beat Xavier 72-66.
The Pirates, meanwhile, have won three of their last four.
–Field Level Media
