Sloppy second half allows Blue Demons to torment Hoyas
Your Georgetown Hoyas improve to 2-14 in conference play (9-18) after completing the sweep against the DePaul Blue Demons (3-24, 0-16 BIG EAST). Jayden Epps led the way with 33 points and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to steal Georgetown’s second BIG EAST win of the year. After creating some distance in the first half, 41-28, the Hoyas allowed a 21-7 run to start the first 5 minutes of the second and then settled for a nip-tuck struggle session that came down to the last possession.
Georgetown holds on to defeat DePaul 77-76 as Henley misses an uncontested layup with 3 seconds left.
Hoyas (9-18, 2-14) snap an 11-game losing streak and sweep the Blue Demons for the first time since 2016.
— Bobby Bancroft (@BobbyBancroft) February 25, 2024
Your Georgetown University Hoyas traveled to Chicago to take on the DePaul Blue Demons this Saturday. The Blue Demons are winless in BIG EAST play (0-15) and currently putting together one of the worst campaigns in Power 6 conference basketball history, ranked 306th in KenPom. Georgetown and DePaul are the bottom dwellers of the BIG EAST with a combined 1-29 record in conference play this year – with that one Georgetown win coming against DePaul back in January. This matchup would surely be each team’s best chance to pick up a conference victory with the regular season coming to a close in a couple of weeks.
In early going, the game was as advertised: ugly. Jayden Epps (33PT, 5AST) opened the scoring with a runner from the 3 point line at the end of a broken possession for the Hoyas. Over the first few minutes, turnovers dominated the game as both teams quickly tallied 4 a piece. Georgetown found some success off the DePaul turnovers and were able to score a couple of layups in transition, but they also gave up a pair of dunks to DePaul guard, Jaden Henley (15PT, 6REB) on the defensive end.
Over the next 10 minutes and headed into the under 8 minute timeout, shot-making was hard to come by for both teams, but for DePaul in particular. Jayden Epps led the scoring for the game with 13 early points and 3 assists, as the DePaul defense gave up open looks to Hoyas. Georgetown’s defense continued to struggle, as it has all season, but DePaul could not make the Hoyas pay, giving the Hoyas a 26-17 lead with 6 minutes left in the half.
The game script continued to be sloppy, but the Hoyas were able to muster up a 14 point lead with a couple of minutes remaining in the half. However, heading into the break, DePaul had a mini-run with a pair of backdoor cuts leading to uncontested reverse layups, forcing a visibly frustrated Ed Cooley to burn his first timeout of the game with 50 seconds remaining. Epps was able to convert on a pair of free throws out of the timeout and bolster the Hoyas’ lead to 13, 41-28, before the intermission.
In the first half, Fielder (2PT, 5REB), Brumbaugh (14PTS), and Bristol (4PTS, 4REB) all saw heavy minutes, along with the usual tandem of Jayden Epps, Dontrez Styles (12PTS) and Supreme Cook (6PTS, 11REB). Despite the Hoya lead, both teams looked porous defensively, surrendering easy layups and back door cuts, as well as a plethora of open corner 3s. It should come as no surprise that these teams are ranked 316th and 317th in adjusted defensive efficiency rankings according to KenPom. The first half was ugly all around, but the Hoya Guard duo of Brumbaugh and, in particular, Epps was a bright spot for the Hoyas, as they combined for 5 assists and 25 points in the 1st stanza.
In the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half, DePaul fired up a 16-7 run to cut the Hoya lead from 13 to 4 thanks in part to some tough offensive rebounding by the Blue Demons and interior scoring from Elijah Fisher (16PTS) and De’Sean Nelson (16PTS). With the Hoyas lead slipping away, Cooley was forced to utilize a 2nd timeout, but it failed to stop the bleeding as Epps missed a contested triple, and DePaul drilled another 3 from the top of the key to cut the lead to 1. On the ensuing possession, Brumbaugh missed everything on a tough jumper from the wing, and after 2 free throws, the Blue Demons took their first lead of the night 49-48. But maybe more importantly, the foul put the Blue Demons in the Bonus with 15:11 (!!) left in the 2nd half. With 10 minutes left in the game, the Hoyas clung to a 1-point lead, 54-53. Again, the all too familiar situation where you look away from the TV for 10 minutes only to come back to see that the Hoyas squandered a huge run. The Hoyas came out of halftime as if they had already won the game, and DePaul came out playing like they had nothing to lose, and they didn’t.
Over the next 3 minutes, the Hoyas finally started to make some shots to dampen the DePaul run, but it was still not enough to maintain the lead and Georgetown found themselves down 4 points (63-59) with 7 minutes left in the game. Cooley tried more defenses than I think he has in his entire playbook, but Georgetown’s defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed, as Jalen Terry buried DePaul’s 6th triple of the 2nd half to give DePaul a 3 point lead again.
With 4:10 left in the game, Jay Heath knocked down a desperately needed corner 3 to tie the game at 68. Out of the timeout, Georgetown finally got an offensive run going with a Brumbaugh jumper, followed by a couple of Epps free throws, and a break away steal and slam from Supreme Cook to reclaim a 4 point lead: 73-69 with 2 minutes left. After trading a pair of buckets, DePaul’s Da’Sean Nelson converted an “and-1” in what was the most chaotic sequence of basketball moves I have seen all year: DePaul leads 76-75. On the other end Epps smartly attacked the rim and got fouled to regain the 1 point lead for the Hoyas. Back and forth we go!
After the second free throw from Epps, DePaul’s interim head coach, Matt Brady, called timeout with 8 seconds left. On the inbounds, Jalen Henley went coast-to-coast and had the best look he could have asked for, as Georgetown’s defense failed to slow him down at all, but was rejected by the rim on the layup. The Hoyas survive: 77-76.
Phew! Georgetown avoids near disaster. I am not sure what the response would have been to a loss to DePaul this season, but I am glad we do not have to find out. This was a difficult game to watch because Georgetown was clearly the more talented team, and it showed in the 1st half. However, DePaul played like they had nothing to lose in the 2nd half and it gave them the juice they needed to make this a game. Georgetown did themselves no favors on the defensive end, but were able to squeeze out the victory. Overall, another disappointing performance for the Hoyas, but a win is a win.
The Hoyas will take a trip to Philadelphia on Tuesday to take on a bubble Villanova team that cannot lose to Georgetown if they want to maintain their tournament hopes. The game tips off at 6:30PM.
Hoya Saxa!