January 9, 2018 - If someone told you a Georgetown mustered a 20-6 first half run, going up 17 points and owning momentum, there is a good chance reasonable fans would assume head coach Pat Ewing and the Hoyas proved victorious. That assumption makes sense.

Yet it wouldn’t be proven accurate tonight, as the Blue and Grey fell 81-75 to Xavier on the road. Key in the loss was the Musketeers’ 43-19 first and second half run, one producing their 65-58 advantage with 6:54 to go.

Key in Xavier’s scoring spree? A 2-3 zone the team’s head coach, Travis Steele, used to stunt Georgetown’s momentum and spark his team’s overall energy level/aggression level.

The Muskie’s 48-28 scoring lead in the paint was also huge. Zach Haskins, a Division II grad transfer center and Tyrique Jones, a junior forward were the primary paint protagonists for Xavier, scoring 23 and 19 points, respectively, the former being a career Muskie high. Both led the game with 10 rebounds apiece.

Their work, and that of Naji Marshall (13 points in 40 minutes), were key in the team’s 46.7% shooting mark, a number that including a paltry 23.1% on three balls. Sophomore guard Elias Harden was the lone long distance bright spot for Steele et al, sinking 2 of three long balls and finishing with seven points.

Hoya senior center Jessie Govan paced all scorers with 27 points, while tying freshman forward Josh LeBlanc with a team best eight caroms. The team shot 43.1% overall and 37% on three balls, the long distance number buttressed by 7-13, first half shooting. Freshman guard James Akinjo contributed 13 points, senior wing Greg Malinowski had 12, while both logged six helpers.

Despite their collapse, Georgetown found itself down only a trio of points after sophomore wing Jamorko Pickett’s (nine points) pressure packed free throw makes with 55 seconds remaining. Xavier then closed the game on a 6-3 run, with the Hoyas’ lone points coming via an Akinjo three pointer, the clock reading 16 seconds left.

Xavier, now 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the BIG EAST, welcomes Butler to Cintas Center this Sunday, a noon EST tip off.

The Hoyas (11-5, 1-2) next take the court this Saturday, when the dangerous Providence Friars trip to D.C. A noon start, this game will occur at Capitol One Arena.