This is an official Georgetown game report, published on GUHoyas.com.
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Hoyas Drop 84-83 Heartbreaker to TCU in BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle
WASHINGTON – Despite trailing by as many as 15 early in the second half, the Georgetown University men's basketball team clawed its way back and took a two-point lead with two seconds on the clock but a last-second triple gave the TCU Horned Frogs the 84-83 victory at Capital One Arena on Saturday night. With the setback in the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle, the Hoyas slip to 5-3 while TCU remains unbeaten at 7-0.
ON THE RECORD
"That was a great college basketball game. Obviously, we love the battle… It didn't fall our way but let me tell you what happened today: our men grew up. I thought we battled. We could have easily packed it in after they went on a 7-0 run and I had to call a timeout. I thought our men grew up. I thought we were resilient. I thought we were calm. I thought we were collected. I thought we were tough… I give my team an A+ on their resilience, an A+ on their character, an A+ on their toughness today… I lost this game for those kids and I want to do a better job the next time we coach … The energy in the building made a major difference today. Little by little, Georgetown will get there. In order to get to the mountaintop you have to fail a little bit first and that's okay. I am proud of our men. Really, really proud of our men." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
HOYA NOTES
Jayden Epps led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor and a 5-for-7 performance from the free throw line. He chipped in a squad-best five assists.Dontrez Styles tallied 18 points behind a trio of 3-pointers and five from the charity stripe to go along with six boards.Ismael Massoud chipped in 16 points on four made field goals, all from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the free throw line. He added a squad-best 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.Jay Heath rounded out those in double figures with 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting with all three of his buckets coming from downtown.
The Hoyas shot 45.3% (24-53) from the floor but allowed the Horned Frogs a 34-for-65 (52.3%) performance on the night.TCU outrebounded the Hoyas 35-31 on the glass while both benches chipped in 23 points apiece.Georgetown forced 12 TCU turnovers on five steals while the Horned Frogs forced 13 GU turnovers on eight steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite TCU getting on the board first, the Hoyas were hot out of the gate, as a triple from Styles put the Hoyas up one before an Epps layup extended the early advantage to three (7-4, 17:58).The Hoyas maintained the lead but the Horned Frogs tried to maintain a one-possession game before five-straight points from Drew Fielder on a dunk and a 3-pointer pushed the Blue & Gray ahead seven (21-14, 13:45).
A layup from Styles pushed the Hoya lead to eight (23-15,12:32), the largest of the frame, but TCU would not back down, staging a 16-4 run to regain the 31-27 lead. The squads went into the break with the Horned Frogs leading 44-36. TCU came out firing in the second half with its lead bloating to 15 before a 9-2 Hoya run, capped by a trey from Massoud cut the lead back to single digits (55-47, 15:04).
A bucket for the Horned Frogs extended it to double digits again but seven straight behind a Heath triple and a pair of Epps buckets made it a one-possession game (57-54, 13:20).
The Blue & Gray stayed in it using their play from beyond the arc to chip away at the lead as a Massoud trey cut it to two (61-59) before another TCU bucket made it a two-possession game again. A Styles triple cut it to one, bringing the crowd to its feet and a stop on the other end got the crowd loud as Epps drove for the fastbreak layup for the Hoyas to take the 64-63 lead, their first of the frame (8:06).TCU continued to push and knotted the game at 81 with 1:29 to play. Epps sank a pair of free throws to take a two-point lead with two seconds on the clock. On the final play, TCU knocked down the desperation triple to seal the 84-83 victory.
UP NEXT
The Hoyas return to action on Saturday, December 9 when they host longtime rival Syracuse at Capital One Arena. Tipoff at GU's downtown home is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and the game will be broadcast live on FOX with Jeff Levering calling the play-by-play and Donny Marshall providing analysis. The radio call of Rich Chvotkin, in his 50th season as the Voice of the Hoyas, can be heard locally on The Team 980 and on the SiriusXM app.
