Villanova Freshman Acaden Lewis Dominates Hoyas in Hometown Return

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Villanova true freshman Acaden Lewis made a triumphant return to his hometown on Saturday, Feb. 7, scoring a career-high 26 points against the Georgetown Hoyas in an 80-73 win.

Lewis added six assists, three steals and just one turnover, making seven straight Wildcats’ baskets over the final ten minutes as he put the Hoyas away with 17 second half points. Georgetown dominated down low early, hanging 40 points on the Wildcats (18-5, 9-3 Big East) in the first half. Most of the Hoyas’ production came in the first ten minutes, when they made nine of 12 shots alongside a 7-of-8 clip from the charity stripe.

Villanova’s defense buckled down to allow just five of 17 shots on their way into the half. The Hoyas got away from what worked as the Wildcats hit their stride, attempting 16 of 31 shots from three in the second half and making only four of them. The Wildcats, for their part, struggled from the charity stripe, making just 14 of 28 free throws.

Matt Hodge and Tyler Perkins (15 points) sank consecutive threes to put Villanova in front 43-40, but Georgetown responded with a 10-1 run that forced a Kevin Willard timeout. The lead didn’t have long to simmer, as Malachi Palmer erased the deficit with two threes in 52 seconds. After the Wildcats pushed their lead to seven, Malik Mack netted eight straight points for Georgetown, tying the game 64-64 on a triple with 6:34 to play.

Lewis came up with the answer each time, sinking the Hoyas’ chances with back-to-back threes in the final three minutes and pushing Villanova’s lead to 77-69.

Up next, Villanova will host Marquette at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10.