Georgetown has yet to optimize its rotation during its non-conference slate, but that mission is at least moving in the right direction ahead of Saturday’s home game against St. Francis (Pa.) in Washington, D.C.

The Hoyas entered the season with plenty of questions as to who would play where and when under second-year coach Ed Cooley. Georgetown retained just two starters and welcomed 14 new players after last year’s 9-23 finish.

Jayden Epps predictably has been solid so far his second season with the Hoyas, averaging 15.3 points per game, but two newcomers have provided Cooley some much-needed stability early on.

Freshman forward Thomas Sorber logged two double-doubles in his first four games and leads Georgetown (3-1) in both scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (9.5). TCU transfer guard Micah Peavy averages 12 points and is shooting 48.7 percent from the field.

The duo combined for 26 points, 16 boards and nine assists in Wednesday’s 79-51 home win over Mount St. Mary’s.

The blowout also let Cooley substitute players who need more experience ahead of the Hoyas’ Big East opener against Creighton on Dec. 18. All four reserves who checked in logged at least 14 minutes.

“We purposely wanted to cut our rotation a little bit to get a little bit more chemistry and synergy, and I thought our young guys did a really good job,” Cooley said.

Saturday could bring more opportunities for Georgetown’s inexperienced players to get valuable minutes.

The Red Flash (2-4) have dropped four of their five road games this season, including a 66-58 setback to Mount St. Mary’s last Saturday. Each of St. Francis’ other three road losses have come by at least 26 points.

“We are good about digging ourselves into holes, especially on the road,” Red Flash coach Rob Kimmel said. “I told the guys to leave the shovels behind as we prepare for Georgetown.”

St. Francis put the shovels to good use during Wednesday’s home opener, burying Division III Penn State-Schuylkill 96-57 to snap a two-game skid. Jeremy Clayville hit 6 of 10 3-pointers off the bench and had a team-leading 21 points, while fellow reserves Miles Webb and Chris Moncrief scored 17 points apiece.

–Field Level Media

No. 18 Cincinnati will face its first major test of the season on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech.

The Bearcats are 4-0 — the third time they’ve done that in coach Wes Miller’s four seasons at the helm — and are coming off a 76-60 win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday. Still, Cincinnati has played only one road game and has not faced an opponent with the Atlantic Coast Conference pedigree of Georgia Tech.

But the Yellow Jackets (2-2) have had their own issues, particularly on defense, and were beaten by rival Georgia 77-69 on Nov. 15 in their most recent game.

Cincinnati passed its first road test on Tuesday, and Miller liked what he saw.

“That was good for us,” he said. “I thought we got better and there were a lot of things we can learn from.”

The Bearcats got 18 points from Simas Lukosius against Northern Kentucky; he was 6-for-9 on 3-pointers and hit all five attempts in the second half. Lukosius leads the team with an average of 17.8 points and has made 69.6 percent of his 3-pointers, good for fourth in the NCAA.

“People have asked how he’s been playing and if I’m surprised,” Miller said. “I don’t put stock in a game or two, but I see him every day, and I’m not surprised because he continues to work on his game and gets better every day.”

The Bearcats are without Dan Skillings Jr., who had minor knee surgery Nov. 11 and could return to practice next week. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the opener, but his knee was swollen the next day and surgery was performed.

The Bearcats’ other top players are Jizzle James (averaging 14 points per game), Dillon Mitchell (12 points, team-leading 8 rebounds) and Arrinten Page (10.3 points).

Day Day Thomas played 14 minutes in his season debut Tuesday and contributed four assists and two points. Thomas broke his foot during the NIT in the spring and had not played since.

“Having Day Day back was such a lift for our team,” Miller said. “I thought he was really good at times defensively. He puts so much more pressure on the point with his ability to drive.”

Georgia Tech is coming off a loss to Georgia in which it set season lows for points (69), field-goal percentage (36.5), 3-point field goals (six) and assists (11), but a high for fouls committed (28). The Yellow Jackets have had trouble scoring, making just 37.2 percent from the field over the past two games.

Baye Ndongo leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and is tied with Luke O’Brien for the lead in rebounding (8.0). Ndongo has scored in double digits every game.

Lance Terry averages 14 ppg. Doryan Onwuchekwa has started the past two games and totaled 20 rebounds, including 11 against Georgia.

“A lot of times I think we’re our own worst enemy,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “I just don’t like our mental makeup. That’s probably the toughest thing about losing, to me. We’ll work on it and we’ll get better.”

–Field Level Media

A pair of unbeaten teams will square off in a neutral-site battle on Saturday morning as No. 15 Marquette meets Georgia in Nassau, Bahamas.

Marquette will make the journey for just the one game, while Georgia will take on No. 22 St. John’s at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort on Sunday.

The Golden Eagles (5-0) are coming off their first marquee win of the season, 76-58 at home over No. 6 Purdue on Tuesday. After the Boilermakers tied the game at 12 with 12:31 left in the first half, Stevie Mitchell’s layup gave Marquette a lead it never surrendered.

Mitchell scored a career-high 21 points, while Kam Jones became just the third Golden Eagle to ever record a triple-double, chipping in 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, as Marquette snapped Purdue’s 39-game regular-season, non-conference winning streak — the fourth-longest in NCAA history.

A rarity in this era of college sports, Jones and Mitchell are two seniors who have stuck with the program for four years. The duo will look to help Marquette to its first 6-0 start since 2011-12, when it began the year 10-0.

“(Jones) has worked his tail off,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “He’s always had better ability as a playmaker than some might think, but his role was a little different when we had Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, because those guys were such good passers. We still need him to score, but he also has the ball in his hands more, and we need him to create opportunities for other guys.”

As for Mitchell, Smart said he helps to make the team run.

“I don’t think until Stevie graduates and moves on will we fully feel what we have in him,” the coach said. “I just encourage everyone to enjoy this year while we have him here. He’s a combination of will, toughness, heart, and he’s extremely smart.”

Jones leads the team with averages 22.6 points and 6 assists per game, while Mitchell chips in 13.6 points per contest.

Standing in the way of Marquette’s potential 6-0 start is a Georgia team that’s seen little resistance to begin the year. The Bulldogs (5-0) have won their first five games by an average score of 87 to 66.6, most recently blowing out Alabama A&M at home Tuesday, 93-45.

Led in scoring by Asa Newell (16.8 points per game) and sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. (14.6), the Bulldogs are off to their best start since beginning 7-0 in 2020-21.

Georgia’s hot streak will be tested in the Bahamas, as coach Mike White’s team will see its first big challenge on Saturday.

“Marquette will demand our attention and respect. It’s a great program,” White said. “Shaka has done a phenomenal job up there, and from what I’ve heard on the outside looking in, they’ve got a good culture and really good players. It’ll be a high-level game and a good opportunity to see where we’re at.”

The two programs have met three times, most recently a 73-66 Georgia win in Milwaukee on Dec. 2, 2017.

–Field Level Media

No. 6 Purdue enters its game with Marshall on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind., with an unfamiliar feeling.

For the first time since 2020, the Boilermakers lost a regular season, non-conference game when they fell to No. 15 Marquette 76-58 on Tuesday in Milwaukee. But the early-season setback is all part of the learning curve that Purdue coach Matt Painter wants the Boilermakers (4-1) to go through before Big Ten play begins.

“Our first three games, we weren’t lights out,” Painter said. “(Then) we played really well against Alabama. We weren’t great before that. So we’re trying to find ourselves, trying to find some consistency. But this is what you want. Because we get thrown into (Big Ten play) at Penn State and Maryland in December. You want to be able to get off to a good start in the league; that’s a little easier said than done. I just believe if you’ve got a good enough team, you need to go out and get challenged, even if you’ve got to take a couple on the chin.

“That way, when you get into the NCAA Tournament, you’ve done everything in your power as a coach to help.”

Trey Kaufman-Renn leads the Boilermakers in scoring and rebounding with averages of 17.6 and 6.6, respectively. Fletcher Loyer is averaging a second-best 16.2 points per game, and Braden Smith is next at 14.6.

Purdue has shot 50.6 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3-point range. The Boilermakers had 15 turnovers at Marquette while the Golden Eagles had just six.

“We need to start by taking care of the basketball,” Painter said. “One of the things that probably jumps out for us is I don’t think we’re as good as Marquette defensively. So, in practice, we don’t see that. Doesn’t mean we don’t have athletic players, doesn’t mean we don’t have good players. But they have a more experienced defensive group. So we’ve got to grow at taking care of the basketball.”

A well-rested Marshall (3-1) most recently played last Saturday, knocking off Bellarmine 83-62.

Nate Martin led the Thundering Herd with 23 points and nine rebounds. Jalen Speer came off the bench to tally 20 points, and Obinna Anochili-Killen added 15 points and nine rebounds.

Marshall used an 11-player rotation. Thundering Herd coach Cornelius Jackson said team depth is a strength Marshall will draw on throughout the season.

“I feel like we are a deep team,” he said. “Each one of our guys can step in and play a role.”

As leader of a mid-major team from the Sun Belt Conference, Jackson said he reminded his players there likely will be more fans than they are accustomed to in Mackey Arena on Saturday and therefore it will be louder, but it’s still just a basketball game.

“The rims are the same size, the court is the same size,” Jackson said. “The seats might be a little different, but at the end of the day, it’s still basketball. Every guy on our team has played for a long time.”

— Field Level Media

Expect the clash between No. 13 Baylor and No. 11 Tennessee in the final of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, on Friday night to have a March Madness-level of intensity.

The teams will have to work hard to produce the kind of excitement they did in this event’s opening round on Thursday, in which Baylor won in double overtime over No. 22 St. John’s and the Volunteers dismantled previously undefeated Virginia with a dominant second half.

The Bears (4-1) won in stunning fashion when Jeremy Roach hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer as part of his 20 points. Baylor stumbled through the second overtime, missing five free throws and neglecting to properly defend the 3-point line as St. John’s built a lead.

But the Red Storm left the door open just a crack, and Roach barreled through it with his decisive shot, giving Baylor its fourth straight victory after an embarrassing season-opening loss to Gonzaga.

V.J. Edgecombe’s 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds left Thursday brought Baylor to within two points and, after a timeout and a foul, Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s missed both free throws with 4.1 seconds to play. Norchad Omier grabbed the rebound and fed Roach for his winning shot.

“Jeremy Roach — a big-time play,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said after the win. “He makes big plays. I loved seeing him make that shot and the team celebrate. We showed a lot of heart.”

Omier led Baylor with 24 points and 10 rebounds, with Robert Wright scoring 17 points, Jalen Celestine adding 14, Jayden Nunn tallying 12 and Edgecombe contributing 10.

“My teammates had my back,” Roach said. “They had my confidence in me, and I just wanted to make a play. We’ve just been in too many battles together, so we had to come back for that one. We all came together. We never back down.”

The Volunteers (5-0) beat Virginia 64-42 behind 26 points from Chaz Lanier, 14 from Igor Milicic Jr., and a determined defensive effort. Eighteen of Lanier’s points came after halftime.

“My teammates were finding me. Shout-out to them,” Lanier said. “We had a great plan defensively and really focused on that in the second half.”

Tennessee led just 22-21 at the break and was up 39-34 with 10:48 remaining. It then reeled off a 25-8 run to end the game; Virginia hit just one field goal over the final 7:44.

The Volunteers doubled the output of Virginia in the second half, outscoring the Cavaliers 42-21. Tennessee held Virginia to 28 percent shooting and forced nine turnovers that they turned into 18 points.

Tennessee also had 19 points off 18 offensive rebounds combined in both halves.

Tennessee is playing this tournament without J.P. Estrella (left foot injury) and Cameron Carr (left thumb injury), with Estrella’s lack of physical improvement a spot of concern for coach Rick Barnes and the team.

“It is concerning,” Barnes said about Estrella. “We know he wants to play. We know he has done everything he can do. I think the plan we had for him to start was the right plan. … It is day-to-day, and it is the same injury that he has dealt with.”

–Field Level Media

Texas and Saint Joseph’s will square off for just the second time ever on Friday night when they tip off in the Legends Classic championship game in New York.

Texas rides a four-game winning streak into the final, while Saint Joseph’s has been victorious in three straight contests. Their meeting will be their first since the Longhorns recorded a 68-50 victory on Nov. 24, 2008.

Saint Joseph’s (4-1) overcame squandering a 16-point lead in Thursday’s 78-77 victory over Texas Tech in the semifinals.

Justice Ajogbor made the second of his two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to snap a tie and cap the scoring.

Anthony Finkley successfully contested Darrion Williams’ floater at the buzzer to preserve the win for the Hawks.

“We come in here (to Barclays Center), an amazing NBA venue in Brooklyn, and I’m like, God is good,” Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange said. “Just to get these opportunities, regardless of the result … is the thing I’m grateful for the most right now.”

Erik Reynolds II scored 26 points and went 6 of 11 from 3-point range, while Xzayvier Brown finished with 20 points following a 13-for-13 effort from the free-throw line. Brown is averaging 17.4 points and Reynolds 16.8 over the first five games of the season.

Texas (4-1) advanced to Friday’s championship game with a 70-66 win over Syracuse on Thursday, holding on after giving up an 11-point halftime lead. Arthur Kaluma posted 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to pace the Longhorns before fouling out.

“I take more of a facilitator role when I work the middle,” Kaluma said of his production against a zone defense. “When I get the ball in the middle, I’m able to spray the ball to my teammates to get easier shots. But when they go man (defense), it’s still that facilitation mindset even when I have more opportunities to score.”

Tre Johnson, who came in averaging 23.5 points per game, added 16 points on Thursday. Johnson went just 1 of 7 from 3-point range in what was his lowest-scoring output of Texas’ first five games.

The Longhorns struggled from deep vs. Syracuse, making just 4 of 15 shots. But Texas benefited from holding the Orange to 5-of-21 shooting from long distance, and Syracuse was a dismal 9 of 18 at the free-throw line.

–Field Level Media

There’s no shortage of ways to describe how close the St. John’s men’s basketball team was Thursday night to earning the first signature win of the Rick Pitino era.

Instead, Pitino and his squad have a short amount of time to overcome a potentially demoralizing loss.

The No. 22 Red Storm will look to produce a quick bounce-back effort Friday night when they play Virginia in the third-place game of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.

Both teams lost in opening-round action Thursday night. St. John’s suffered its first loss of the season when Jeremy Roach hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the second overtime to lift No. 13 Baylor to a 99-98 win. Virginia also fell for the first time in the nightcap, when No. 11 Tennessee pulled away from the Cavaliers in the second half for a 64-42 victory.

St. John’s (4-1) appeared primed to pull off the upset when it scored the first seven points of the game and took a pair of 18-point leads in the first half before entering the locker room with a 44-30 lead.

Baylor shot 47.1 percent (16 of 34) from the field in the second half, including 57.1 percent (8 of 14) from 3-point territory and went ahead 77-74 on Roach’s 3-pointer with 1:48 left. St. John’s scored the final three points of regulation and then overcame a five-point deficit in the final 1:47 of the first overtime before opening two five-point leads in the second extra session, the last at 98-93 when Deivon Smith split a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining.

V.J. Edgecombe responded with a 3-pointer for Baylor and St. John’s left the door open one more time when Zuby Ejiofor missed a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining. Norchad Omier pulled down the rebound and passed to Roach, who raced down the court and hoisted the game-winning shot just before the buzzer sounded.

“That was about as difficult a loss as you can have,” Pitino said.

Ejiofor’s missed free throws served as a harsh reminder of the narrow margin between victory and defeat. St. John’s shot 57.1 percent (16 of 28) from the line, matching the program’s worst single-game mark since Pitino took over prior to last season.

“They’re going to be disappointed — they had the game in control at the end and (Roach) made a big shot,” Pitino said. “We missed the free throws, could’ve iced it. It could’ve been over, but it wasn’t.”

There were no such remorseful what-ifs for Virginia (3-1), which trailed only 22-21 at the half after Andrew Rohde hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left.

The Cavaliers opened the second half 1 for 6 with four turnovers during the first seven minutes, a span in which Tennessee mounted a 15-3 run. Virginia got within five points at 39-34 on Taine Murray’s 3-pointer with 10:48 left, but the Volunteers ended the game with a 25-8 surge.

Virginia, which has yet to score more than 70 points in a game this season, shot 28.6 percent from the field (14 of 49) and allowed Tennessee to pull down 18 offensive rebounds and score 19 second-chance points.

“When you play against high level competition, it really shows you where you are as a team,” interim head coach Ron Sanchez said. “We’ve got to put 40 minutes together. Twenty’s just not enough.”

–Field Level Media