NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Georgetown reserve Vince Iwuchukwu collected 17 points and 14 rebounds as 11th-seeded Hoyas earned a 63-56 victory over sixth-seeded DePaul Wednesday night in the opening round of the Big East tournament.
The Hoyas (15-17) won their second straight following a seven-game losing streak and will face No. 3 seed Villanova in the quarterfinals Thursday night.
Jeremiah Williams also scored 17 for Hoyas before fouling out late in the contest, when Iwuchukwu helped Georgetown pull away in the final minutes.
A reserve on St. John’s Big East title team last season, Iwuchukwu scored 14 points in the second half. The forward scored nine in the final three-plus minutes after DePaul cut the lead to 44-42 on a pair of 3s by Kruz McClure, the second with 6:35 left.
Iwuchukwu hit a 3 for a 51-45 lead with 3:54 left, added a putback dunk for an eight-point lead 52 seconds later and hit two free throws for a 57-49 lead with 68 seconds left — before hitting another pair at the line in the final seconds.
Iwuchukwu shot 4 of 9 and hit 7 of 8 free throws in 23 minutes for his fifth double-double. He also helped the Hoyas attain a 42-30 rebounding edge.
Malik Mack contributed 16 points as the Hoyas shot 52% in the second half and 39.3% overall.
Layden Blocker led DePaul (16-16) with 16 points off the bench but on 5-of-14 shooting. NJ Benson added 12 but CJ Gunn was held to seven on 3-of-13 shooting.
DePaul shot 34.5% and was 9-of-21 from 3-point range. The Blue Demons also struggled at the rim by missing 12 of 16 layups.
The Blue Demons were held under 60 points for the sixth time this season and unable to produce much drama like in 2024 when they took a one-point loss to Villanova or when they took Creighton to double overtime in last season’s tournament.
DePaul missed 9 of 10 shots until Blocker’s 3 snapped a 19-19 tie with 2:07 left in the first half and the Blue Demons held a 24-21 lead by halftime. The Blue Demons then missed eight straight shots early in the second half, and Georgetown took a 35-28 lead on a putback by Iwuchukwu with 13:24 left.
The Hoyas took their first double-digit lead when Caleb Williams sank a layup for a 42-32 edge with 9:01 left. After the teams traded baskets, DePaul scored eight straight points before Georgetown regained control and finished it off.
- By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media