Foul Shots, Resiliency Fuel Hoyas’ Win Over Villanova

Top 25 men

It’s been a basketball season unlike many recent ones at Georgetown.

In the first season after the two-year reign of Allen Iverson, the Hoyas have shot terribly from the field and free throw line, played without any consistency and even lost three games at homes.

That was all forgotten Monday night in a 78-67 victory over No. 14 Villanova in Landover, Md., that saw the Hoyas hold off the Wildcats again and again in the second half.

The Hoyas (12-7, 5-6 Big East) came up with their biggest win of the season by not folding when Villanova ate up all but four points of a 21-point second-half lead.

They also made 77 percent of their free throws (27 of 35), an impressive number for a team that entered the game shooting 57 percent from the line. At one point, Georgetown was 18 of 21 from the line.

The Wildcats (15-5, 6-4) trailed 41-20 when Ed Sheffey of Georgetown opened the second half with a 3-pointer. But Villanova went on a 17-0 run to get within 41-37 with 14:21 to play.

Georgetown rebuilt its lead to 45-37 with 13:30 remaining, but Villanova closed to 55-53 by the 8:33 mark. However, Georgetown went back up by five and led by at least that many the rest of the way.

(4) Utah 84, (21) Tulsa 58

Michael Doleac scored 18 points and Andre Miller had 17 as the Utes defeated the Golden Hurricane in Salt Lake City.

The victory kept the Utes (14-2, 6-0) in first place in the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference.

Shea Seals led Tulsa (15-5, 5-1) with 16 points. But the star guard shot just 4-of-12 and did not get his first basket until 14:40 was left in the game.

Keith Van Horn, the top player for Utah, did not score in the first half. The 6-foot-10 forward finished with 12 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

The Utes shot 52 percent while holding Tulsa to 34 percent.