Villanova falls to Georgetown, 69-66
Austin Freeman scored 30 points, including eight in the final 2 minutes, 59 seconds, to lead 21st-ranked Georgetown to a 69-66 Big East victory over Villanova today before a crowd of 19,914 at the Wells Fargo Center.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats, who trailed by as many as 11 and by eight with 2:59 to play, mounted a frantic rally behind Maalik Wayns and got to within one point on three occasions.
But Freeman hit two baskets and a pair of free throws, and assisted on a dunk by Nate Lubick, to keep Georgetown in front.
After Freeman hit two free throws with 14.1 seconds to play, the Wildcats needed a three-pointer to tie. But Antonio Pena and Dominic Cheek missed shots from beyond the arc as time expired.
The Wildcats got off to a fast start, taking early leads of 10-5 and 17-13. But they went almost 6 ∏ minutes without a point and the Hoyas capitalized with 10-0 run to grab the lead at 23-17 with 4:47 left to play in the first half.
Georgetown never lost the lead after that. The visitors led 32-26 at halftime and took their largest lead, 39-28, three minutes into the second half.
Wayns and Corey Fisher led the Wildcats (17-4, 5-3 overall) with 15 points each.
Georgetown improved to 16-5, 5-4.
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com