This is an official Georgetown press release, published at GUHoyas.com.
Click here for our chat thread.
HARTFORD, Conn. – Despite a quartet of Hoyas in double figures, it was not enough as the Georgetown men's basketball team fell 80-67 at No. 4/4 UConn on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center. With the setback, Georgetown is 8-9 overall on the year and slips to 1-5 in BIG EAST play while the fourth-ranked Huskies improve to 15-2 on the year with a 5-1 mark in league action.
ON THE RECORD "I was proud of our guys' fight. Connecticut, to me, is the best team in the country and they've got a lot of weapons, they've got a lot of answers. When they go small with (Alex) Karaban at the five, they're a really really tough matchup and they can extend the floor. They move the ball, they have a purpose, they have physicality, they have athleticism - they're one of the elite teams in college basketball … I was proud of our guys. I thought we got better today. We didn't win the game but I thought we continued to fight and build." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS
Supreme Cook led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with his fourth double-double on the year as he tallied 18 points on an efficient 5-of-7 performance from the floor as well as knocking down eight free throws. He added a game-best 13 rebounds in the contest.
Jayden Epps added 16 points, while Jay Heath chipped in 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including a pair of triples, and Dontrez Styles rounded out those in double figures with 11.Georgetown went 17-for-50 (34.0%) from the field while adding 29-of-38 from the charity stripe. The Huskies managed a 51.1% (24-27) from the floor led by Alex Karaban's 26 points.UConn held the slim margin on the glass, outrebounding the Hoyas 33-31.
HOW IT HAPPENEDCook got the Hoyas on the board first with a dunk on the offensive board, but UConn responded with six-straight to take an early lead.The Huskies kept the Hoyas at bay and led by seven (14-7) with 11:29 remaining before Cook completed the traditional three-point play to make it a two-possession game. Both squads continued to trade points as Cook took the lion's share of the offensive output for the Hoyas but as the fourth-ranked Huskies knocked down triples, the Blue & Gray didn't have an answer, falling behind by as many as 13 (36-23, 2:02).
The Hoyas cut it down to eight late in the first half, but UConn took a 40-31 lead into the break.UConn pushed it to as many as 12 (52-40) early in the second frame, but six quick points from the Hoyas over 1:17, including a pair of driving layups from Jay Heath and Jayden Epps as well as an Epps floater, cut the deficit to six and swung the momentum to the Blue & Gray.The home team continued to find a response as the lead was pushed back up to double digits despite valiant efforts from the Hoya backcourt, who found more of a rhythm from beyond the arc in the second half. The Huskies would take the 80-67 victory at the final whistle.
UP NEXT The Hoyas will return to action on Friday, January 19 with a roadtrip to Cincinnati to face Xavier. Tipoff at Cintas Center is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Lisa Byington calling the play-by-play and Nick Bahe 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 nationally on the SiriusXM app.
