Washington, D.C. – Visiting UMBC produced a big rally to take a late first half lead, but hot-shooting Georgetown quickly responded and went on to defeat the Retrievers, 100-71, at Capital One Arena.
Senior guard
L.J. Owens (Annapolis, Md./The Severn School) scored 14 of his season-high 17 points in the first half. He hit a career high five 3-point field goals in eight attempts.
Owens scored all 14 of his first half points in a 25-9 UMBC run, which erased a 22-8 deficit and gave the Retrievers a 33-31 lead with under six minutes to play in the period.
But the Hoyas shot 50 percent from the floor in the game and buried 13-of-23 from behind the arc to even its record at 4-4. Georgetown was led by guard Kaiden Rice, who buried 10-of-12 shots from behind the arc in a 34-point performance.
Senior guard
Darnell Rogers (Baltimore, Md.) also scored in double figures for UMBC, contributing 11 points and adding a team-high five assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Georgetown turned an early 5-2 deficit into a 22-8 lead just 6:08 into the contest.
- The hosts hit 11 of its first 13 shots from the floor and 4-of-5 from behind the arc in the first 8:23 of the contest. Junior forward Yaw Obeng-Mensah (Toronto, Ont.) curbed the Hoya run with a follow shot and dunk, but the Retrievers still trailed, 26-15 at that stage of the first half.
- But Owens found the range, burying three consecutive treys to cut the deficit to 28-24 with nine minutes to play of the period. His fourth 3-pointer of the half gave UMBC a brief 33-31 lead with 5:49 to play in the half, but the Hoyas countered with a 7-0 run to regain control and secured a 48-40 lead at the half.
- Georgetown opened the second half on a 10-4 run as the Retrievers missed their first five field goal attempts in the half. Rogers stemmed the run with a trey and driving layup, but the Hoyas maintained a double-figure lead for the rest of the game.
- The Hoyas outrebounded the smaller Retrievers, 61-30, and outscored UMBC, 26-5, on second chance points.
The Retrievers fell to 5-4 and will continue its arduous non-conference schedule when they travel to Princeton to take on the Tigers on Monday, Dec. 13.
