Six weeks earlier, Georgetown had been ranked No. 9 in the country, but the Louisville loss gave them their ninth defeat in 11 games and dropped them to 12th place in the 16-team Big East. Their demanding schedule continued with a visit to No. 12 Villanova on February 28. Both teams had strong defensive efforts, but Georgetown's defense was the better of the two: The Hoyas held the Wildcats to season lows in points (54), field goals (15), and shooting percentage from the field (33.3), as well as to 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) three-point shooting, and forced Villanova to commit a season-high 20 turnovers. For its part, Villanova forced Georgetown into a season-high 25 turnovers. The game stayed close until Georgetown finally pulled ahead over a 6:52 stretch late in the first half and early in the second during which the Hoyas made nine straight field goals and took a 40-32 lead with 17:21 left to play. Villanova closed to a two-point deficit three times, the last time at 52-50 with 5:02 remaining. Then both teams slumped on offense, with Villanova failing to score a field goal on eight straight possessions and committing three turnovers and Georgetown missing five straight shots from the field and committing two turnovers. The Wildcats closed to 52-51 on a free throw by sophomore guard Corey Stokes with 1:15 left to play, but Chris Wright scored on a layup and two free throws to give Georgetown a decisive 56-51 lead with 10 seconds remaining. DaJuan Summers scored 16 points, Wright had 13, and sophomore guard/forward Nikita Mescheriakov, starting in place of Jessie Sapp, contributed a career-high 11 points as Georgetown upset Villanova 56-54, the Hoyas' fifth straight win over the Wildcats.Anonymous, "Summers, Wright lead Hoyas past Villanova," Associated Press, March 1, 2009.
