WASHINGTON, D.C. – Even Ed Cooley had to have thought there would be a breakthrough by now, in the third year of his mission to rebuild the Georgetown men’s basketball program.
On the outset, it seemed as though this would be the year for the Hoyas after they won eight Big East games in 2024-25 – most since the 2018-19 season under Patrick Ewing – and brought in a transfer portal haul that ranked No. 31 nationally by 247Sports, just ahead of UConn, this offseason. They were picked sixth in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll, which has been wildly off thus far, and even beat Clemson to claim one of the Big East’s nine Quad One nonconference victories.
But, after opening league play with a win at Marquette, the Hoyas haven’t been able to make winning plays to get over the hump down the stretch.
They lost their next game, a tight one decided by three points at home against Xavier, when Cooley let his frustration out with a water bottle toss into the stands, which happened to hit a young fan sitting on his mother’s lap behind the Hoyas’ bench. He was suspended for the next game, a 30-point win over Coppin State, and Georgetown has lost its next four, each decided by 12 points or less.
The Hoyas nearly pulled one out on the road at Creighton on Tuesday, but Langston Love’s potential game-winning putback at the end of regulation was overruled after a lengthy review and they went on to lose, 86-83, in overtime.
“It didn’t go our way this time so we’ll have to suck it up, move on and prepare for UConn,” Cooley told reporters in Omaha, Neb.
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Pesky as ever, Georgetown is in need of a big win and will be ready when the third-ranked Huskies visit Capital One Arena on Saturday, a building where wins haven’t come easy, even in the program’s darkest times.
UConn, off to its best start in league play (7-0) since the 1998-99 first national championship season, has been tested in its last two road games, coming back from down 13 to beat Providence in overtime, then escaping a comeback effort from Seton Hall on Tuesday night.
The Huskies, with point guard Silas Demary Jr. and star freshman Braylon Mullins getting comfortable, are looking to clean up some turnover problems against a Georgetown defense that doesn’t typically force many and for that killer instinct to put teams away once they get ahead late.
UConn has won its last 10 meetings with Georgetown.
Cooley’s team has five players averaging in double-figures, led by guard KJ Lewis, an Arizona transfer who scored 27 points against St. John’s and is at 15 points per game on the year with 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Malik Mack, back for his second year in the program, is averaging 14.5 points and 4.3 assists per game, and forward Caleb Williams is at 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 37.7% from beyond the arc – second-best on the team behind former Huskies forward Isaiah Abraham, who is shooting 41.9% from 3 and averaging 6.6 points per game in 19.3 minutes as a sophomore.
Now with St. John’s transfer Vince Iwuchukwu (10 points, 1.9 blocks per game) back healthy, Georgetown also has two 7-foot centers in him and sophomore Julius Halaifonua.
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Huskies to watch: Alex Karaban and Solo Ball
In his last four games against the Hoyas, dating back to the start of his sophomore campaign when Cooley took over, Karaban has averaged 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 64.6% shooting from the field (31-for-48) and 57.7% from beyond the arc (15-for-26).
One of three DMV-area players on UConn’s roster along with Jayden and Jacob Ross, Solo Ball is looking to get back on track in his return close to home on Saturday. The Huskies’ second-leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, Ball has been relatively quiet with only three made field goals in each of the last three outings. Breaking out as a 41.4% 3-point shooter last season, including a 7-for-18 mark (38.8%) in two games against the Hoyas, he has yet to find his rhythm from beyond the arc at just 28.8% from deep this year.
What to know
Site: Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.
Time: Noon
Records: No. 3 UConn: 17-1 (7-0 Big East), Georgetown: 9-8 (1-5)
Series: UConn leads, 40-36.
Last meeting: Feb. 26, 2025 – UConn 93, Georgetown 79 at the XL Center in Hartford
TV: FOX – Tim Brando, Donny Marshall
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports Radio 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman
