If he were on Depaul, Depaul would be up 13 now. instead he's on Georgetown right now and he's doing just a little bit of everything.
— Tim Doyle, halftime discussing Jayden Epps
Last night Georgetown likely avoided the ignominy of 2023-24 BIG EAST basement status, as Georgetown handled DePaul, then faltered before being bailed out by a dramatic missed layup, also enjoying the offensive heroics of Jayden Epps throughout. Yes, this 77-76, G'Town victory, was a lot.
Flowing into second half action, the Hoyas were up, in large measure due to sophomore guard Epps. During the first half, he dropped 18 of a game best 33 points in 39 minutes. His shooting clip of 9-18 overall, 4-10 on threes, 11-13 from the free throw line tell the tale.
So does DePaul's second half bucket-making: After going 39.3% from the field, 20% on threes during the first 20 minutes, interim HC Matt Brady's guys logged 51.6% and 50%, respectively, outscoring the Hoyas 48=36 in the final frame. For comparison purposes, the Hoyas out-pointed DePaul 41-28 during first half play.
The Blue Demons', after never leading in the initial stanza, went ahead a single point with 15:51 to play via 1a 3-2 run over around two and a quarter minutes and senior guard Jayden Terry's (16p, 4r) shot. They led for a total of seven minutes, eight seconds from there, the game becoming a seesaw affair.
Enter the drama.
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Jayden Epps did 'the Thing' against DePaul. (ron bailey)
After taking a one point lead after senior forward DeSean Nelson's (16p, 4r) paint shot, Epps reclaimed it for Georgetown with two free throws, clock reading eight seconds to play. Ed Cooley, in his first year leading the Hoyas, called time out, ostensibly to prepare his team defensively.
It really didn't work, as the Blue Demons, facing Georgetown's full court man, deny point guard Chico Carter scheme, executed a give and go set, with sophomore wing Jaden Henley (15p, 6r) inbounding the ball to sophomore wing Elijah Fisher (16p, 5r), who immediately flipped it back to a streaking Henley. With a full head of steam, Henley raced through late reacting defenders - nobody stopped ball - and got basically unfettered to the rim with 3.8 seconds in regulation.
Unfortunately for he and DePaul, Henley missed the layup. A slight touch by Hoya sophomore guard Rowan Brumbaugh (14p) has since been cited, as has Henley not switching the ball to his left hand, as reasons for the flub.
Cooley was frank in his assessment, noting "Our defense in the second half wasn't where it needed to be. And we are really, really fortunate the young man at the end of the game, just missed the layup. You've got to play until the last second".
Georgetown, now 9-18, 2-14/10th in the BIG EAST, enjoyed a game best 11 boards from junior big, Supreme Cook while as a unit shooting 45% overall, 33% on threes, faces a quick turnaround, as Villanova awaits them this Tuesday, at the Wildcat's on-campus Finneran Pavilion, festivities starting 630p EST. Cooley indicated "We're gonna take a deep breath, a sigh of relief", before preparation begins.
DePaul, 3-24, 0-16/11th next face visiting Xavier, a Wednesday, 2.28.24, 7p EST start. .
Jet over to Premium Court for more, including discussion and another Cooley quote, this one centering on DePaul retiring former star forward Terry Cummings' jersey.
