The Georgetown Hoyas' men’s basketball team came into Providence needing a big win over the nationally ranked Friars to jump back into the NCAA Tournament conversation.

Instead, after their dramatic 2nd half comeback fell just short, the Hoyas walked away with another road loss, and took a step away from March Madness. The loss could be considered a moral victory for the Hoyas, who trailed by twenty at the half, rallying to within one of the Friars before losing 75-72. However, there’s no more room for moral victories as the Hoyas need to start picking up some wins if they want to get back into the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, Providence, despite their 2nd half struggles, continues to look like a team that could potentially make a run late into March.

Friars Produce Offensive Onslaught In First Half

Behind a double-double from Rodney Bullock, the Friars jumped all over the Hoyas in the first half, racking up 49 points over the first twenty minutes.

Providence got the early lead when Kris Dunn made a jumper and Bullock followed with a pair of free throws for a 4-0 advantage. The Hoyas stayed close, but Providence displayed a balanced offense. as five different players scored. Providence stayed ahead of Georgetown 11-7 over the first five minutes. Providence then really started scoring, ripping off a 10-2 run to burst out to a 21-9 lead, forcing a Georgetown attack. Dunn scored three points and dished out an assist on Ben Bentil’s trey during the run. The Georgetown timeout didn’t help any for the Hoyas, as Providence went on to score five straight points, making it a 15-2 run. Bullock finished the run with a monster slam for a 26-9 lead with 7:30 remaining in the first half.

Bullock then proceeded to personally outscore the entire Georgetown squad over the next four minutes. After the Hoyas made a jumper for their first points in seven minutes, Bullock sunk a three-pointer. Jessie Govan came back with a jumper for the Hoyas, but Bullock took a feed from Jalen Lindsay and swished another one from beyond the arc. Bullock later added a layup and another three-pointer to help Providence open up a whopping 23-point lead at 39-16 with 3:37 remaining. The Friars got their lead up to as much as 26 points before Georgetown ended the half on a mini 6-0 spurt to bring their deficit down to twenty points.

Georgetown Uses Suddenly Suffocating Defense To Rally

After being trampled all over by the Friars in the first half, Georgetown came out in the second half with a suffocating defense, using it as a springboard for their big rally. The Hoyas forced the Friars to take bad shots. Providence missed nine shots in the first ten minutes of the half as Georgetown forced errors, causing six turnovers. The Hoyas were all while narrowing the gap to 58-51 with ten minutes remaining in the game.

Marcus Derrickson got Georgetown off on the right foot with a three pointer that continued the run the Hoyas had started in the first half. Derrickson dished the ball off to L.J. Peak on the next Georgetown possession, who went airborne for a momentum-swinging dunk, making it eleven straight points by the Hoyas. Peak went on to sink a couple of critical three pointers in the next few minutes, the second of which cut the lead to 58-51. The teams traded runs, as Providence spurted off a 7-2 run, reinstating their double-digit lead at 65-53, but the Hoyas came roaring back with six straight points to cut the lead to just 65-59. Derrickson was fouled on a three-point attempt and promptly sank all three shots from the charity stripe, bringing the score to 68-64 with 3 minutes remaining.

Ben Bentil Helps Providence Stave Off Hoyas

As Georgetown fought desperately to the end, trying to claim a lead they had yet to garner during the game, Bentil came up with some clutch free throws to fend off the Hoyas furious charge. He made a pair of free throws to give Providence a 70-64 lead, only to see D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera come up with his only points of the day, banking in a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one possession. Bentil went 1-2 on his next trip to the free throw line, which was just enough to keep Georgetown out of range. However, Trey Mourning poured in a three-pointer and Georgetown’s furious rally was just one point away from being complete. But this time, it was Bullock coming up with a few clutch free throws to bring Providence to a 73-70 lead.

Georgetown had a chance to tie, but Isaac Copeland was fouled. He sunk both free throws but it still left the Hoyas down a point. Ben Bentil sunk a pair of free throws, and Georgetown had one more chance to tie the score, down 75-72 with 8 ticks remaining on the clock. Georgetown worked the ball to L.J. Peak, but his shot was blocked by Bullock and, of course, it was Ben Bentil there to collect the rebound and secure the victory for Providence.

Hoya Star Goes Silent Against Providence

While Derrikson (18 points), Govan (13 points), and Copeland (12 points) provided Georgetown with a fairly balanced offense, there was one noticeable name missing from the statistical leaders. Despite playing 33 minutes, Georgetown star D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera was held to just one three-pointer late in the second half, shooting 1-8 from the field. The limited production from Smith-Rivera was costly to the Hoyas, who couldn’t make up for his lackluster performance, despite double-digit scoring performances off the bench for Peak and Mourning.

Meanwhile, on the Providence side, their three major impact players did just enough to secure the victory with 23 points from Bullock, 20 from Dunn, and 16 from Bentil. Providence’s bench scored just four points, but the Friars lasted just long enough to hold on for victory.

Up Next

Providence, who ended a three game skid against Georgetown, will play Xavier on Wednesday in the last of their major conference challenges. They’ll finish their schedules as favorites in their final four games as they look to secure a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

On the flip side, the Hoyas will face some of their toughest challenges of the year. They face Seton Hall on Wednesday, before finishing their conference schedule with games against Xavier, Butler, Marquette, and Villanova. The Hoyas will need some big wins in that stretch plus an impressive Big East Tournament run to sneak into the NCAA Tournament.