Malik Mack scores 37 as Georgetown edges past Washington State
Malik Mack scored a career-high 37 points and undermanned Georgetown held on to beat Washington State 85-82 in the first round of the College Basketball Crown on Monday night in Las Vegas.
Jordan Burks recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds as Georgetown (18-15) advanced to Wednesday's second quarterfinal game versus Nebraska (18-14). Georgetown won its first postseason game since the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
LeJuan Watts led Washington State (19-15) with 22 points while Ethan Price added 16. Watts missed two free throws with 3.9 seconds left but the Cougars secured the rebound and Rihards Vavers missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Georgetown used a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the second half at 74-72 on two Caleb Williams free throws with 4:47 left. After a Washington State miss, Mack nailed a 3-pointer and the Hoyas took their largest lead of the game at 77-72.
Washington State answered with six straight free throws to regain the lead at 78-77 with 3:01 left.
Burks' putback of a rare Mack miss gave the Hoyas an 81-80 lead with 1:34 left. After a defensive stop on the other end, Curtis Williams Jr.'s layup put the Hoyas up 83-80 with 41 seconds left. Watts raced down the court and his layup cut the Hoyas' lead to 83-82 with 38 seconds left.
Mack shot 13 of 24 from the field -- including 8 of 12 from deep. Both Mack and Burks played all 40 minutes.
An hour before the scheduled tip time, Georgetown put out an update on social media that a 'health incident' would leave the Hoyas with a limited roster against the Cougars.
Micah Peavy, who led the Hoyas with 17.2 points per game and earned a spot on the All-Big East first team, missed his first game of the season while Jayden Epps (12.8 ppg) was also absent from the Hoyas backcourt.
Georgetown used eight players in the first half, including three walk-ons in Austin Montgomery, Hasham Asadallah and Michael Van Raaphorst.
Washington State, which led for most of the first half, took a 35-25 lead after a 3-pointer from Vavers with 4:07 left before halftime. It was the Cougars' first double-digit lead of the game and capped a 7-0 run.
Georgetown pulled to within 35-34 after a flurry of three 3-pointers from Mack in a span of 47 seconds. Washington State led 42-39 at halftime despite 20 points from Mack, who made 5 of 7 3-point attempts before the break.
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