The Georgetown Hoyas looked to make it three straight wins when hosting the Providence Friars in a Big East showdown last night. Coming off their biggest win of the season on the road against the Butler Bulldogs, G'Town obviously looked to keep that momentum going. Out scoring the Hoyas 43-29 in the second half, Providence eventually prevailed 73-63 at Capital One Arena.

Sophomore guard Mac McClung returned to the lineup today for the first time in the last four games. With two minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the first half, McClung exited the game, apparently re-injuring his foot injury.

Joining him in the MASH unit was senior center Omer Yurtseven, who missed his second straight contest, as his ankle injury was judged to not have suitably healed.

Senior guard Jahvon Blair knocked down the first points of the game with a three pointer, eventually leading all scorers via 20 points. His team was ready to play, opening with a 7-0 run and sound defense. .

Providence was coming off a game where they jumped out to a 32-8 start in the first 12 minutes in a victory over Seton Hall's Pirates. Last night's beginning was unlike that tilt, as they only scored 30 points for the entire first half.

Junior guard Jamorko Pickett has been displaying confidence in his game lately and this game was no different: He was aggressive all night crashing the glass and looking for his shot offensively,. Defensively his length was key for Georgetown. Pickett's final numbers were 12 points and a contest tops 12 rebounds.

Freshman centers Qudus Wahab’s and Timothy Ighoefe defense on Providence's pivots was focused in the first period, making it tough for Providence to acquire any offensive success early.

With the Blue and Gray leading 34-30. at intermission, Providence started the second stanza in similar fashion to their Seton Hall game, eventually taking a 61-52 lead as the clock read 6:32.

Ball movement leading to balanced scoring (four had a least 11 points) were key in the Providence win,. They trounced G'Town assist-wise, winning that battle 21-8.

A key Friar contributor was senior forward Kalif Young, who used his experience along the road to 11 points and a team best nine caroms. Senior wing Alpha Diallo led Providence with 18 points while adding eight rebounds. More or less closing for the Friars was graduate guard Luwane Piipkins, who logged 13 of his 16 points in the second half, along with half of the four assists assigned him.

The Hoyas struggled to put points on the board during last stanza action, shooting 36.4 percent, while the Friars logged 60 percent. Final clips were 38.6% overall, 33.3% on three balls for G'Town, 43.9% and 40% by Providence.

The loss moves Georgetown to 15-11 and 5-8 in the Big East. Winning boosts Providence to 15-12 and 8-6 in the Big East.

The Hoyas next travel to Chicago's Wintrust Arena to face the DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday February 22.

Providence hosts Marquette the same day.