Georgetown Returns to Winning Ways, Defeats Georgia State

Riding Mac McClung’s hot hand, the Georgetown Hoyas (3-1, Big East) defeated the visiting Georgia State (1-3, Sun Belt), 91-83, on Sunday evening. The Hoyas, fresh off a Thursday-night loss to Penn State (3-0, Big Ten), were aided by five double-digit scoring performances, headlined by McClung’s 25 points, 11 of which came from the free-throw line. Omer Yurtseven tallied 15 points while Josh LeBlanc added 12 off the bench; James Akinjo and Jamorko Pickett scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Georgia State saw five players score in double digits also. Corey Allen paced the Panthers with 21 points.

It didn’t take long for McClung and Allen to find the scoresheet. The pair exchanged baskets within the game’s first minute, before each made a three-pointer shortly after. Yurtseven scored four points in quick succession just before the first media timeout to give Georgetown a short lead. The Hoyas would maintain a small, and certainly not comfortable, lead throughout the first half of the stanza. The lead ballooned to as many as eight points when Akinjo nailed a pair of free throws with 12:56 remaining. But Josh Linder and Allen combined to score 24 points for the Panthers in the frame, spurring a dominant seven-minute which saw their team unleash a 16-2 run. The teams exchanged baskets in the final stages of the half, but Georgia State’s offensive outburst late on helped the Panthers take a six-point advantage into the locker room.

The Panthers’ lead survived for the opening 6:20 of second-half action, but succumbed when Yurtseven converted an and-one layup. With the lead in hand, the Hoyas utilized a full-court press, with players such as LeBlanc and Terrell Allen providing valuable defensive contributions over the next phase of play. This pressure helped Georgetown force seven turnovers in the half, which turned into eight points. While the half-court offense appeared stale at times, the Hoyas found success in transition, pushing the pace to get easy baskets. This was punctuated by a heavy slam from Jagan Mosely with 6:18 remaining, which gave the Hoyas a nine-point lead. Though the Hoyas struggled to get stops on defense, the offense was able to score seemingly at will—thanks in part to their 37 free throw attempts in the stanze, and their lead was never seriously threatened for the remainder of the game. Ultimately, Georgetown’s 52 percent field goal shooting and 29 made free throws were the difference in the second half.

The Hoyas will now travel to Madison Square Garden for the 2K Empire Classic. They’ll face Texas (4-0, Big 12) on Thursday at 7:00pm on ESPN2.