Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
A pair of struggling Big East teams will square off on Monday afternoon when Villanova hosts Georgetown. The Hoyas are riding an eight-game losing streak, including a 66-51 setback against Seton Hall last Tuesday. Villanova has lost five of its last six games, falling to Butler in a road game on Friday.
Georgetown picked up a pair of wins against low-level teams to open the season, but it has not strung together consecutive wins since then. In fact, the Hoyas have only won three games since that 2-0 start, beating La Salle, UMBC and Siena. They have lost all eight of their games since the win over Siena on Dec. 7, including their first seven Big East games. Georgetown fell to Seton Hall in its most recent outing, which came last Tuesday in a 66-51 final. The Hoyas have lost 27 straight Big East regular-season games, setting a conference record.
Final.#HoyaSaxa pic.twitter.com/Ppr9xaPyVn
— Georgetown Hoops (@GeorgetownHoops) January 11, 2023
They have not been shooting the ball well this season, ranked No. 281 in effective field goal percentage (47.9). Georgetown’s strength has been its low turnover rate and solid offensive rebounding numbers, but that has not been enough to overcome its poor shooting numbers. The Hoyas are going to have a height advantage in this matchup as well. They are facing a struggling Villanova defense that is No. 249 in field goal percentage and No. 251 in turnover rate. Sophomore guard Primo Spears leads Georgetown with 15.3 points, 5.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. Second-leading scorer Brandon Murray has been sidelined since getting injured in in a 73-57 loss to Villanova on Jan. 4, while third-leading scorer Jay Heath has been out since Dec. 29 (undisclosed).