HOLIDAY TUNE-UP: Georgetown Tops Coppin State, 83-53, in Non-Conference Finale

Sorber, Fielder, & Mack had double-doubles

Do you remember seasons of yore, when Hoyas fans went into certain game days expecting that the team would win? Those days seem to be coming back. Your Georgetown Hoyas are now 11-2, getting the win over the Coppin State Eagles today by a score of 83-53 in their final non-conference game of the season. Three Hoyas had double-doubles.

Thomas Sorber (22pts/10reb/5blk) and Drew Fielder (22pts/13reb) dominated inside, while Malik Mack was back in a big way, with 15 points and 11 assists. Curtis Williams Jr. went 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Mack returned from a lower body injury that had sidelined him for two games; Jayden Epps was out of the lineup after wrenching his ankle badly last weekend against Seton Hall. Coppin State was 1-12 after winning their most recent game against Navy, while Georgetown had the holiday week to get rejuvenated after their victory in the BIG EAST opener.

Mack opened the scoring with a three, while the Eagles came up empty on multiple early possessions thanks to effective Hoyas defense. The team did a good job focusing on getting the ball inside to Sorber, with both the freshman and Fielder drawing fouls in the paint. It was nearly 4 minutes before Coppin State tallied their first field goal, and Georgetown took a 10-4 lead into the U16.

Nnadozie hit another for the Eagles out of the break and a mishandled inbounds pass led to Hoyas turnover. Failure to note the cutter and losing a player down the court after a short possession led to two more baskets for Coppin State, briefly cutting Georgetown’s advantage to 1 before Mack struck again from long range.

Within the first eight minutes of play the Hoyas gave up 7 points off 5 turnovers, but a pair of triples from Curtis Williams Jr. mitigated the damage. A lot of back and forth ensued, punctuated by Mack making the extra pass to find Sorber wide open under the basket for a dunk. It was 25-20 at the under-8 media break, a margin closer than it should have been due to Georgetown’s struggles to take care of the ball.

Sorber got a block as the shot clock was winding down and drew the foul (making both) on the other end trying to put away Caleb Williams’ miss in transition. In the waning minutes of the half, Micah Peavy forced turnovers, caused a bad shot, and got a block, while Sorber continued to convert and Fielder had a left-handed finish as well. The Hoyas went into the break ahead 37-30.

Georgetown came out of intermission with scrappy hands on defense and Sorber got the finish through contact. Peavy appeared understandably baffled when his open look from the corner sailed long, and the tunrnover woes continued through the next several possessions. However, mercifully, good D and Sorber’s long arms ensured that no ground was given up.

The first lead of more than 10 points happened for the Hoyas at the 12:49 mark of the second half, when Mack found Caleb Williams who converted from beyond the arc. Add the and-1 from Sorber, and Georgetown was on top 52-37. Coppin State’s bench was called for a T headed into the U12; Mack added that pair of free throws to the Hoyas lead and Fielder finished from the paint on the retained possession.

Mack used the finger roll to complete a driving layup — it was 60-39 with less than 10 minutes to play. At this juncture the Eagles had not yet scored a field goal in the second half, going 0 for 14 (by my count?) with their only points coming from the stripe. Mack and Peavy kept it rolling, extending the Georgetown lead by another half dozen.

Coppin State cooked up a quick 7-0 run, but the Hoyas’ advantage was such that it did not cause any agita until they stabilized. Mack, Caleb Williams, and Drew McKenna all got physical to score inside, with Sorber flexing at McKenna as he drew a whistle while getting the bucket through contact.

This week between Christmas and New Years Day is frequently a no man’s land of leftovers, cheese, and pleasant apathy, the perfect scenario to listlessly stroll into a trap game loss. While the turnovers need to be cleaned up in a big way, this one never felt like it was at risk, which is how it should be. Clean, controlled, and consistent need to be the keywords for this bubble team throughout remainder of the season.

Next up, the return to BIG EAST play, hosting Xavier for a rare Friday night matchup, slated for 8pm on January 3rd. That one will air on CBSSN.

Hoya Saxa! See you in 2025.