Washington, D.C. — Georgetown sophomore guard Jayden Epps led a furious comeback as the Hoyas avenged last season’s upset loss and defeated American 88-83 in overtime Sunday, in a game where the hosts trailed by as many as eleven points during the second half.
The Norfolk, Va. native poured in a career-high 31 points, including the game-tying three-pointer with just over five seconds left in regulation. Epps completely took over the game, with 22 of his points coming in the second half. He scored more than half of Georgetown’s 41 points in the period. After the game, Epps said, “I had it cooking, my teammates were finding me.” He added that Head Coach Ed Cooley often attempts to scheme open the hot hand on any given night, and said, “It could have been anybody. If you cook, then [Cooley’s] gonna keep coming to you.”
The game was a back-and-forth affair during the first half and ended with Georgetown taking a one point edge into the locker room. But in the second half, the Eagles looked as though they would pull away with the lead growing to 11 on a 3-point play from sophomore center Jermaine Ballisager Webb with 6:19 remaining. The onslaught was led by senior forward Matt Rogers, who finished with 17 points to pace the Eagles, despite having just two points at the half.
The hosts, playing in their second game in as many days, got a massive lift from Epps over the last several minutes. The Illinois transfer scored the Hoyas’ final 14 points of regulation over the last 2:17, outscoring the Eagles 14-9 on his own during that final stretch on 5/5 shooting.
Dontrez Styles also turned in a great performance for Georgetown the day after posting a career-high 26 points against Mount St. Mary’s. He followed up his career day with a 22 point, 11 rebound double-double. The North Carolina transfer led all players by playing 43:38, sitting for less than 90 seconds of game time. Cooley called Styles “a young man really coming into his own,” and labeled the junior as “somebody that the Big East will definitely know about.”
Even with the win, Georgetown has room to improve. The Hoyas came into the game shooting 66.7% from the free throw line, 247th in the nation, and those struggles continued Sunday. Georgetown shot just 5-12 (41.7%) in the first half. The Hoyas did turn it around later in the game, as the team shot 13-14 from the line during the second half and OT.
The Hoyas were also outrebounded 38-32 on the night, leading Styles to remark that the glass will likely be “a main focal point next practice.” Styles’ 11 boards made up more than one third of Georgetown’s total rebounding output.
After ceding a double digit lead in the final minutes of regulation, American was held without a field goal over the last 4:18 of the extra period and shot 1-6 from the floor after shooting 50% from the field during the first 40 minutes. American Head Coach Duane Simpkins said of the drought after the game “I think that’s going to be, you know, incumbent on me to learn and get an idea of like, in the moment, what’s going to work best for our team.” Simpkins went on to say “I think our guys got some decent looks. They could have gotten better ones, and again, that’s on me.”
Going under the radar amidst Epps’ heroics was the surprising inclusion of grad transfer guard Cam Bacote in the lineup down the stretch. Bacote played just under 12 minutes on the day, despite only getting two minutes of action in the first half. The Hoyas outscored American by 15 points while Bacote was on the floor and were outpaced by 10 while he was on the bench. Cooley said of the move, “[Bacote] is the ultimate settle-you-down guy. He’s a little bit older, He’s been in a lot of college games.” Cooley called Bacote “a coach on the floor” and said the veteran “deserves all the credit.”
Graduate guard Jay Heath exited the game in the first half with an apparent ankle injury but later returned. Cooley said after the game that the injury did not appear to be serious.
The win was Georgetown’s eighth win in their last nine games against the Eagles, with the loss coming last December in a 74-70 setback. The victory moves the Hoyas to 3-2 heading into Thanksgiving week. Next up, the Hoyas face the Jackson State Tigers, who moved to 1-5 on the year Sunday with an upset win over SEC foe Missouri. The game is set for a noon start on Nov. 25 at Capital One Arena.
