Villanova wins, Hoyas set Big East losing-streak record

Updated Jan. 4, 2023 8:59 p.m. ET

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Caleb Daniels made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, Brandon Slater added 14 points and Villanova beat Georgetown 73-57 on Wednesday night to extend the Hoyas' regular-season conference losing streak to 25 games.

The Georgetown loss broke a tie with DePaul for the longest regular-season losing streak in Big East Conference history. The Hoyas went 0-19 in the conference last season while going 6-25 overall, including a 21-game losing streak. The Hoyas also lost their final regular-season Big East game in 2020-21, before going on a surprising four-game run at Madison Square Garden in New York to claim the conference tournament title.

It was tied at 35-all in the first half. Then Daniels made three 3-pointers in the opening seven minutes of the second half to help Villanova build a 48-41 lead. Slater added another 3-pointer at 10:56 to give the Wildcats the first double-digit lead of the game at 53-43.

Georgetown made just two of its first 14 shots after the break as Villanova pulled away. The Hoyas shot just 21% in the second half.

Freshman Mark Armstrong scored a season-high 14 points and classmate Cam Whitmore had 10 points and eight rebounds for Villanova (8-7, 2-2).

“We got a young team, we got guys that we know are going to be playing their best basketball by the end of the season,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “Credit to those two guys (freshmen). I thought Mark was really good tonight, especially defensively, and then Cam, same thing; came out and gave us a lot of energy.”

Jordan Riley scored 12 points and Akok Akok had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Georgetown (5-11, 0-5). Primo Spears, Georgetown's leading scorer at 16 points per game, was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.

Georgetown has lost six straight games to drop its record to 73-95 in coach Patrick Ewing's loss-filled stint at his alma mater, including 26-68 in the Big East.

INJURIES

Brandon Murray, Georgetown’s second-leading scorer at 15.5 points per game, left the court midway through the second half holding his right arm. Villanova's Jordan Longino was carried off the court late in the first half, and the team announced at halftime he would not return after suffering a leg injury. Both players returned to the bench late in the second half.

UP NEXT

Villanova hosts No. 18 Xavier on Saturday, while Georgetown plays at Marquette.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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Caleb Daniels

Brandon Slater

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