The Wildcats went scoreless over the last 4:52 of action, as the Hoyas snatched the lead and the win in the closing minutes.
The Villanova Wildcats (12-7) returned to the Finneran Pavilion for the first time since their impressive upset over Connecticut to play host to conference rival Georgetown Hoyas (12-6).
Unlike their previous game at the Finn, Monday night’s finale was less than impressive. In a game that felt like Villanova had control for about 80% of the game, Georgetown gutted out a gritty win for their first game in the Finneran Pavilion since 2011, 64-63.
The Wildcats went scoreless over the last 4:52 of game time, while the Hoyas closed the game out with a 9-0 run to snatch the victory. Micah Peavy hit a last-second layup to seal the late-game rally.
Though it has been nearly a calendar year since these teams have faced off, there has been absolutely no love lost. This game was chippy from the start, when the two teams faced off after the National Anthem, seemingly daring the other team to exit the floor first. That stunt is not too out of the ordinary, as Villanova obliged and retreated to their bench, but what transpired after was anything but ordinary.
Wooga Poplar has been ejected. Wow.
— Tommy Godin (@tommygodinjr) January 20, 2025
Two Philadelphia natives got into a kerfuffle, after Wooga Poplar retaliated a Thomas Sorber body bump with a forearm shiver of his own. Poplar was correctly ejected after a lengthy review, but it left Villanova with a massive hole on both ends of the floor.
Georgetown soon took advantage of the void that Poplar’s absence left as it was the Hoyas’ defensive specialist Micah Peavy who placed them in the first half. Despite connecting on only 3 of his last 25 three point attempts dating back to December 2nd, Peavy connected on four in the first half alone.
Needing someone to step up, naturally Eric Dixon fit the mold. Dixon connected on a turnaround floater as time expired in the first half to give Villanova a seven point advantage into the halftime break.
The aforementioned Thomas Sorber, who played his high school ball at Archbishop Ryan High School just half an hour away, opened up the second half scoring with a bunny in the paint.
A game of runs broke out in the second half with Georgetown seemingly seizing momentum and cutting the lead to five points with a little over twelve minutes to go. Kyle Neptune called an efficient timeout with 12:14 to go in regulation.
After the timeout, Jordan Longino threw a beautiful full-court pass to a streaking Kris Parker, who converted a tough layup. Georgetown was stymied on the next possession, as Eric Dixon converted a tough three coming back the other way.
Villanova had seized momentum back.
The Wildcats rode the momentum for the next couple of minutes, but the Hoyas were not to go down easily. Georgetown kept chipping away at the lead, and stormed all the way back to cut it to a one point game with 12.8 seconds to go.
Much like their confidence, Villanova’s momentum was gone.
Micah Peavy connected on a floater in the lane to give Georgetown their first lead since 4:20 of the first half. A beautiful full court pass from Kris Parker led to a decent look for Eric Dixon and the win, but it fell off the back iron and off.
UConn let Villanova off the hook missing two free throws at the end of their game two weeks ago. Providence let Villanova off the hook turning the ball over in crunch time last week. Georgetown did not let Villanova off the hook tonight.
Eric Dixon finished with an efficient 29 points and six rebounds. Jordan Longino stepped up in Wooga Poplar’s absence finishing with 18 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep.
Micah Peavy led the way for the Hoyas with 24 points on a career-high six threes. Thomas Sorber was inefficient, but still finished with a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Villanova treks out to Milwaukee to face Marquette on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.