Courtesy of Villanova Athletics
Eric Dixon scored all 24 of his points in the second half of play.
Washington, D.C. – Villanova traveled to the nation’s capital on Tuesday, March 4 where it fell, 75-73, to the Hoyas.
With five seconds left in the game, Georgetown guard Jayden Epps drove to the basket with the game tied, 73-73. Epps dropped in a layup to give the Hoyas a lead and the eventual win.
The ending was similar to Georgetown’s earlier 64-63 win against Villanova (18-12, 11-8 Big East) at the Finneran Pavilion this season.
It is the first time Georgetown (16-13, 7-11 Big East) has swept Villanova in the regular season since the 1993 season.
Graduate forward Eric Dixon’s 24-point second half aided the Wildcats’ 14-3 run to give them a seven-point lead. However, it was not enough for Villanova to close the regular season with a win.
Dixon went scoreless in the first half, but his 24 points in the second 20 minutes now brings Dixon to double figures in 46 consecutive games — the longest active streak in college basketball. He also now holds the record for most games as a Wildcat with 157 games, passing Collin Gillespie (156 games).
It was a poor first half of basketball for both teams. With a scoreless Dixon, Villanova shot an abnormal 2-13 from beyond the arc. This season, the Wildcats have shot 40.3% on three pointers which ranks second in the country.
“They (Georgetown) just keep you on the perimeter, match you up and try to confuse you,” Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune said. “They did a great job at just changing up their defenses and keeping us off balance.”
Georgetown was unable to separate itself from Villanova. The Hoyas shot 37.9% from the field and 37.5% from three. The game was tied at 29 all entering halftime.
Villanova went on a 16-3 run with 3:43 left in regulation. It was propped up by six points from Dixon and graduate guard Jhamir Brickus’ seven assists.
The run gave Villanova its largest lead of the game to bring the score to 69-60.
It all came to a halt when Georgetown completely erased Villanova’s nine-point lead and went on a 15-4 run to close out the game. Epps had six of the Hoyas’ 15 points, including the game-winning layup.
“We’ll watch [Georgetown] when we get back to campus, we’ll talk about this,” senior guard Jordan Longino said. “But for the most part we’re looking ahead, looking at whatever our next match up is. Hopefully we’re going to crumble this one up and throw it away after we watch the film and regroup.”
With the regular season over, Villanova will now have one week to prepare for the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. The tournament takes place from March 12-15.
Villanova will await to find out what official seed it gets in the tournament. The first five teams in the Big East receive an automatic first round bye.
The Wildcats currently hold the sixth seed in the tournament, which would set them up to play on Wednesday, March 12, at 9 p.m.