DePaul vs. Georgetown recap: Hoyas hold off DePaul for third Big East win

DePaul made their way down to Washington D.C. this afternoon for a match up with Georgetown on the floor of the Verizon Center. Winless in their first three conference games so far, the Blue Demons were looking to finally get over that hump with a win over the Hoyas.

That moment for DePaul this season will have to come another day as the Hoyas got hot at the right time to pull off the 74-63 win over the Blue Demons.

For the most part today was a bit of a grind for both teams; one where both sides came to rely more on getting to the foul line and hitting crucial shots than a constant stream of points. At the end of the first half, the scoreline was DePaul in the lead by a score of 30-28, with Georgetown saddled by turnovers and DePaul holding onto their lead with a tenacious style of play. The second half was where Georgetown surged ahead scoring 46 points. In the end it was the Hoyas who were able to hold on as DePaul wilted and Dave Leitao made an early exit to the locker room after receiving back-to-back technical fouls.

For the Hoyas today, they shot 39.2% from the floor, 35.5% from three point range, and 71.9% from the foul line. Their most effective shooters on the floor today were Jesse Govan, who finished the day with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and L.J. Peak, who was the Hoyas' hot hand early on. Peak finished the day with 17 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line, all three of his shots from the floor came from three-point range.

D`Vauntes Smith-Rivera had a rather unique day to say the least, as he finished with 17 points on the day, but struggled on the floor for much of the game, finishing with a mark of 3-of-11 from the floor. Where he came to be most effective was at the foul line as he was one of the biggest donor's on the charity stripe today, finishing with a mark of 9-of-14 shooting.

On the other side of ball, DePaul played a rather tenacious style both on and off the ball. In a slash line similar to Georgetown, the Blue Demons shot 37.0% from the floor, 33.3% from three point range, and 87.0% from the foul line. Billy Garrett's day was much like DSR's on the floor, as he finished the day with 16 points on 2-of-4 shooting from the floor. The lion's share of his points would come from the foul line as he finished the day going a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Myke Henry also had a decent day finishing with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor. Darrick Wood as well had a solid day, finishing with 11 points, though in the end fouls would get the better of him as he finished with 4 personal fouls on the day.

While DePaul played tough today, they lost the script as frustration and poor play in the second got the better of them. Despite the now 0-4 mark in Big East play, they are still a tough task for any team to take on. The one redeeming mark for Dave Leitao so far has been his side can give teams a good run for their money, they just now need to learn how to take the money and run for themselves. Their time will come soon enough.