Insights from Xavier’s significant Big East victory against the Georgetown Hoyas

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was a day for underdogs in our nation’s capital Dec. 20.

In the afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings came to Capital One Arena and stayed atop the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division with a 5-2 victory over the favored Washington Capitals.

Once the ice was replaced with hardwood, Xavier men’s basketball bounced back after a historic 41-point loss to Creighton by beating Georgetown, 80-77, in the Hoyas’ Big East home-opener in front of 5,077 fans.

Tre Carroll gets a face full of hair as he looks to pass around Georgetown's Malik Mack at Capital One Arena. Carroll led Xavier with 22 points and also had eight rebounds and four assists. — Tre Carroll gets a face full of hair as he looks to pass around Georgetown’s Malik Mack at Capital One Arena. Carroll led Xavier with 22 points and also had eight rebounds and four assists.

Xavier makes the winning plays in crunch time to beat Georgetown

Xavier led for only 7:50 Saturday night but took a 69-67 advantage into the final media timeout after a Jovan Milicevic corner 3-pointer. Coming out of the break, Xavier scored on its next four possessions with several Musketeers contributing big shots.

Tre Carroll had back-to-back buckets down low, including a three-point play that made it 74-70. Roddie Anderson III hit a step-back fadeaway and Filip Borovicanin’s mid-range jumper over Georgetown 7-footer Julius Halaifonua made it 78-74.

In the waning seconds of regulation, Xavier intentionally fouled twice with a three-point lead. With 3.4 ticks remaining, Georgetown’s Seal Diouf missed back-to-back free throws. On his second misfire, the Hoyas grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked to Malik Mack in the corner, but his game-tying 3-point attempt was offline and Xavier held on.

Xavier forward Jovan Milicevic goes over the top of Hoyas forward Jayden Fort as they fight for a loose ball in the first half Capital One Arena Dec. 20.

Xavier’s toughness shows in road victory over Georgetown

Xavier was embarrassed in just about every category in its loss to Creighton. The Musketeers turned that around with a gritty victory on the road. It wasn’t perfect. Xavier committed 14 turnovers, shot just 31.8% from 3-point range and attempted 29 fewer free throws than the hometown Hoyas.

It wouldn’t matter as Georgetown went just 25-of-43 at the charity stripe, Xavier won the rebounding battle, 45-36, and the Musketeers’ defense held the Hoyas to 34.6% shooting in the second half.

Xavier was led by Carroll, who had a game-high 22 points and 8 rebounds. Borovicanin had his fourth double-double in eight games (11 points, 13 rebounds) while Anderson and Malik Messina-Moore each had 14. Milicevic had 9 points and 8 rebounds after being held scoreless against Creighton.

Georgetown outshoots scouting report early

Georgetown ranks 325th in the country in 3-point shooting. To the Hoyas’ credit, they don’t try to force the issue from the perimeter with just 35% of their field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc.

On Saturday, Georgetown bumped its averages early with a 4-of-8 start from downtown. Isaiah Abraham, a 25% 3-point shooter this season, hit both of his long-range attempts in the first half. His second triple started a 10-0 Georgetown run that forced a Xavier timeout with 7:50 left in the first half.

Backup guard Kayvaun Mulready, who was 2-for-20 from distance, hit a triple to stop a 9-1 Xavier spurt that had trimmed Georgetown’s 10-point lead to 33-31.

Georgetown led at the break, 40-35.

Musketeers guard Malik Messina-Moore puts up a shot over Georgetown forward Isaiah Abraham during the first half of their Big East game at Capital One Arena Dec. 20. Messina-Moore had 12 points in the first half but the Musketeers trailed 40-35 at the break.

Georgetown leaves the door open at the free-throw line

Xavier was in foul trouble early and often, putting Georgetown in the bonus just seven minutes into the contest. The Hoyas nearly doubled Xavier’s attempts at the free-throw line (15-8) in the first half, but had trouble at the charity stripe, going just 8-of-15.

Xavier didn’t get to the stripe for nearly 14 minutes until Milicevic got a whistle down low and scored his first points of Big East play.

Georgetown’s free-throw struggles continued in the second half, finishing 25-of-43. It was the most free-throw attempts for a Xavier opponent since a double-overtime loss to Wake Forest in 2010 and the most in a Big East game since Butler shot 42 free throws in a win over the Musketeers at Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2015.