On Saturday, Feb. 7, Acaden Lewis led the Wildcats to an 80-73 defeat over Georgetown. The freshman guard scored a career-high 26 points in his homecoming to Washington, D.C.
“He’s progressing the way you want any freshman point guard to progress,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “He got it going tonight, he’s been making great plays.”
With the win, Villanova (18-5, 9-3 Big East) ended Georgetown’s (13-11, 5-8 Big East) four-game win streak in the Big East.
Villanova was 28-of-57 (49%) from field goal range, 10-of-29 (34%) from beyond the arc and 14-for-28 (50%) from the foul line.
Senior forward Duke Brennan achieved his 10th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“I knew [Brennan] was gonna be good,” Willard said. “But he’s just been a warrior, the whole, the whole year.”
Junior guard Tyler Perkins contributed 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Junior guard Malik Mack paced Georgetown with 21 points.
Georgetown committed 14 turnovers, contributing to its loss. However, Villanova failed to score any points off its errors.
Four seconds into the game, redshirt freshman forward Matt Hodge committed a foul, allowing Georgetown to score two from the free throw line. Lewis opened up with a three-pointer for Villanova.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the game with about eight minutes left in the half, going on a 6-0 run to make the score 27-26. Georgetown quickly answered back to go up two.
After a short stint with the lead, the Wildcats entered a scoring drought, going a little over three minutes without a field goal.
They finished the half down 37-40. Brennan led with 10 points and seven rebounds. In the first half, the Wildcats shot 48% from field goal range and 21% from the three-point line.
Villanova took a three-point lead with 11 and a half minutes remaining with a score of 57-54.
They went on an 11-3 run spanning from 5:17 to 1:46 to take the lead and go up 77-69. Lewis hit back-to-back threes to help seal the game.
The Wildcats currently stand at third in the Big East Conference behind the University of Connecticut and St. John’s.
Villanova will return on Feb. 10 against Marquette (8-15, 3-9 Big East) at the Finneran Pavilion. This will be their second meeting of the season after the Wildcats defeated them 76-73 on Jan. 10. Marquette is currently ranked 10th in the Big East Conference.
