Xavier tops Georgetown in tight affair to earn first conference win

Tre Carroll scored 22 points with eight rebounds as Xavier recovered from a blowout loss earlier in the week to earn an 80-77 victory over Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

Malik Messina-Moore and Roddie Anderson III each scored 14 points while Filip Borovicanin delivered 11 points and 13 rebounds as the Musketeers (9-4, 1-1 Big East) came out on top after losing 98-57 at Creighton on Wednesday in their conference opener.

Malik Mack scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and Julius Halaifonua added 19 points as the Hoyas (8-4, 1-1) lost at home for the first time in seven games this season.

KJ Lewis scored 15 points for Georgetown before fouling out. He was held scoreless while playing through an illness in a victory at Marquette on Wednesday.

Trailing for much of the second half, Xavier took a 69-67 lead on a 3-pointer from Jovan Milicevic with 4:01 remaining. A three-point play from Carroll gave the Musketeers a 74-70 lead with 2:42 left for their largest advantage since the opening eight minutes of the game.

A dunk from Halaifonua got Georgetown within 78-77 with 17 seconds remaining before Anderson hit a pair of free throws to put Xavier up 80-77 with 10 seconds left. Georgetown's Jeremiah Williams then missed a pair of free throws, the second intentionally, with five seconds on the clock.

A missed free throw from Milicevic gave Georgetown one last chance to tie the game with 3.4 seconds remaining, but the Hoyas' Deal Diouf missed two free throws before a Mack 3-pointer off an offensive rebound at the buzzer was off the mark.

The Hoyas made just 25 of their 43 free-throw attempts (58.1%).

Georgetown led by as many as 10 points in the first half at 32-22 with 5:55 remaining before a 9-1 run pulled Xavier within 33-31. The Hoyas led 50-35 at the half behind nine points from Halaifonua, while Messina-Moore scored 12 points for the Musketeers.

--Field Level Media