Malik Mack scored 26 points as Georgetown snapped a five-game losing streak to Xavier, beating the Musketeers 69-63 on Friday night in Washington, D.C.
Mack, who scored 20 in the second half, connected on three 3-pointers and scored nine straight for Georgetown (12-2, 3-0 in Big East) midway through the second half.
The Hoyas have won five in a row overall and are off to their best start in Big East play since the 2011-12 season.
Zach Freemantle returned after missing three games and led Xavier (9-6, 1-3 in Big East) with 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Xavier had gone 1-2 without Freemantle.
Micah Peavy had 15 points and Thomas Sorber had 12 as Georgetown led by as many as 12 points in the second half. The Hoyas held Xavier to 26.3 percent on 3-point shooting after the Musketeers came into the game shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Xavier’s Ryan Conwell scored 12 points and Dailyn Swain added 11. Xavier twice cut the Hoyas’ lead to one point, but could get no closer. Swain scored five during an 8-0 run that cut the lead to 58-57 with four minutes left.
Jayden Epps (lower body) returned for the Hoyas after missing one game, but made just a brief appearance in the first half, grabbing a rebound and dishing out an assist without attempting a field goal in four minutes. Epps leads the Hoyas with 15.9 points per game.
Georgetown opened up an early 10-2 lead, with every starter scoring. Xavier missed its first five shots and started one of 11 from the field.
Georgetown pushed its lead to 19-6 on a jumper in the paint by Peavy. Xavier answered on the other end on a 3-pointer bank shot from Freemantle, which started a 7-0 run. The Musketeers held Georgetown to one field goal over a six-minute period, closing to within two at 24-22 on a layup by Jerome Hunter with 2:51 left in the half.
Georgetown led 30-24 at the break, shooting 40 percent while holding Xavier to 28 percent from the field. The two teams combined for just one 3-pointer in the first half.
As part of the Big East’s weeklong birthday celebration of legendary St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca, both coaches — Ed Cooley and Sean Miller — started the game by wearing signature Carnesecca sweaters as well as a ‘Lou’ pin. Carnesecca, who passed away on Nov. 30, 2024, would have turned 100 on Jan. 5.
–Field Level Media
