Julius Halaifonua recorded game highs of 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Georgetown to a comfortable 97-67 nonconference win against Coppin State on Monday in Washington, D.C.
Isaiah Abraham contributed a career-high 17 points and KJ Lewis added 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Hoyas (9-4), who have won three of their last four games.
Georgetown scored a season-high 97 points while coach Ed Cooley served a one-game suspension for throwing a water bottle into the crowd after Saturday’s 80-77 loss to Xavier.
Associate head coach Jeff Battle — a member of Cooley’s staff for the past 11 seasons dating back to their time together at Providence — had no problem leading the Hoyas to victory in their second and final game of the season at their on-campus home of McDonough Arena.
Khali Horton led Coppin State (2-14) with 18 points. Jamari Piercy added 13 points and five rebounds while Tyler Koenig had 10 points and five rebounds for the Eagles.
Not known for their long-distance shooting, the Hoyas flipped the script early by knocking down 5 of 7 3-pointers to start the contest. Abraham made two quick 3-pointers during that stretch to put the Hoyas up 21-6 with 12:52 left in the half. Abraham finished the first half with 14 points on 4 of 5 shooting from distance as the Hoyas took a 53-25 lead at the break.
Georgetown entered Monday last in the Big East in 3-point shooting at 29.2% but equaled a season-best with 11 3-pointers and finished shooting 40.7% (11 of 27).
Coppin State showed better early in the second half as Horton made back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Coppin State to within 71-49 with 11:56 remaining. Horton finished 5 of 9 from 3-point range.
From there Georgetown continued to wear down the Eagles as Halaifonua owned the paint, converting 7 of 9 including three dunks, his final slam putting the Hoyas up 84-54 with 6:49 remaining. Georgetown shot 55% and recorded 21 assists on 33 field goals.
Caleb Williams sat out for the Hoyas with an illness and was replaced in the starting lineup by Jayden Fort, who was a perfect 5 of 5 from the field and scored a career-high 15 points.
–Field Level Media
