Villanova Stuns Georgetown

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Malik Allen scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half and Villanova spoiled Georgetown's debut at MCI Center by winning its Big East opener 73-69 on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (1-2, 1-0) snapped Georgetown's seven-game home winning streak and improved to 6-0 in Big East openers under coach Steve Lappas.

Poor foul shooting doomed the Hoyas (3-2, 0-1), who had won three straight and four of five games against Villanova. Georgetown converted only eight of 22 free throws and was 6-for-16 in the second half.

With 2:15 left in the game, Villanova's Howard Brown beat the shot clock with a jumper that gave the Wildcats a 66-59 lead, their largest of the game.

But Georgetown roared back, outscoring Villanova 8-2 over a 30-second span to trim the deficit to 68-67.

Nate Burton's 3-pointer from the left corner started the binge and ended a Georgetown drought of 4:17 without a field goal. As the Wildcats were moving upcourt, Boubacar Aw came up with a steal and a slam dunk to cut the lead to two points.

After a pair of free throws by Villanova's Marvin O'Connor, Burton's 3-pointer from the right corner made it 68-67 with 1:37 remaining.

Forced to foul to get the ball back, the Hoyas sent Villanova to the line, where the Wildcats scored five points over the final 1:05. The Wildcats were 22-for-30 from the line, and 17-for-24 in the second half.

John Celestand added 15 points for Villanova, which won for only the 19th time in a 50-game series dating to 1922. Brown had 11 points and Rafal Bigus and Zeffy Penn 10 each.

Georgetown got 13 points and seven rebounds from Daymond Jackson, but leading scorer Trez Kilpatrick, who averaged 13.8 points in the Hoyas' first four games, was limited to six points.