CJ Gunn scored 17 points and DePaul snapped a 39-game Big East regular-season losing streak by holding on late to beat short-handed Georgetown 73-68 on Friday night in Washington.
DePaul (10-9, 1-7 Big East) led nearly wire-to-wire but needed a 3-pointer by Troy D’Amico with 26 seconds left and some late free throws to win their first Big East regular-season game in nearly two years. D’Amico finished with nine points but his only 3-pointer came as Georgetown had closed to within 65-63 after trailing by as many as 16 in the second half. It was DePaul’s first basket in over five minutes.
First-year coach Chris Holtmann and an entirely new roster had been close to picking up their first Big East regular-season win, losing three times in overtime, including an 85-83 defeat to No. 7 Marquette on Tuesday.
Layton Blocker had 14 and NJ Benson had 12 as DePaul outscored the Hoyas bench 28-4.
Malik Mack and Drew Fielder each scored 19 as Georgetown (12-6, 3-4) lost its fourth straight game.
The Hoyas were without leading scorer and rebounder Thomas Sorber (right elbow) as well as Jayden Epps (left hamstring).
Sorber, who averages 14.2 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game and has been named Big East Freshman of the Week four times this season, missed his first game of the season while Epps (13.2 ppg) has missed three of the Hoyas’ last six games.
Georgetown used an 11-2 run that included a Fielder 3-pointer to pull within 55-48 with 9:48 left. Fielder scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half.
Curtis Williams Jr. banked in a 3-pointer to cut DePaul’s lead to 64-58 with 4:54 left in the game. Williams finished with 10 in his first start of the season and has scored double-figures in four straight.
Georgetown opened the game cold from the field, missing 12 of its first 15 attempts and finished shooting 41.5 percent. DePaul shot 50 percent.
Blocker, who scored all 14 points in the first half, had been held scoreless in two of his last three games. Blocker made his first two 3-pointers in Big East play as the Blue Demons shot 46.7 percent on 3-pointers.
DePaul used an 11-0 run to take a 15-5 lead on a layup by Blocker with 12:49 remaining in the first half.
The Blue Demons took a 39-28 lead into halftime after leading by as many as 17. Georgetown ended the half on a 6-0 spurt capped with a 3-pointer by Mack.
–Field Level Media
