Loyola’s Second Half Run is Not Enough Against Georgetown

By: Ethan Hennessy

Washington D.C.

Loyola and Georgetown took the floor on the opening night of the 2026-27 college basketball season. Both teams had the optimism that comes with the opening night of the college basketball season; however, only one of these Jesuit universities would walk out of Capital One Arena with a tally in the win column.

Loyola was picked to finish ninth in the preseason Patriot League poll while Georgetown was predicted to finish tenth in the Big East Conference. The two programs last met on December 18^th, 2010, when Georgetown bested the Greyhounds 99-75 in a game that saw 12 Hoyas record points.

One thing that the Greyhounds did not have an answer for is the size of the Hoyas out of the Big East. In particular, Georgetown’s starting center Vince Iwuchukwu had a four-inch height differential according to the rosters. On the second offensive possession of the game for the Greyhounds Iwuchukwu blocked Carter Berg-McLean’s driving layup. That seemed to cause the Greyhounds to be averse to driving strong into the paint for the next handful of possessions as they settled for fadeaway and pull-up shots. On the other end, Georgetown rained down three-pointers. At the first media timeout, the score was 14-2 Georgetown. Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said in the postgame that his team’s upperclassman leadership was what carried them early in the game.

Despite Georgetown holding a 27-15 lead, an interesting trend was forming with Loyola finding success on the glass, particularly offensively. The Greyhounds found themselves tied with the Hoyas in rebounds at thirteen at the under eight media timeout of the first half. While Loyola was not shooting particularly well overall from the field their nine offensive rebounds had led to eleven second chance points. Georgetown used the final minutes of the first half to widen the margin. They took a 44-20 lead into halftime.

Leo Rickets provided a spark for Loyola early in the second half. The junior guard hit two wing three-pointers to chip away at the deficit. Head coach Joff Loeffler said after the game that he saw that Leo exhibited confidence in that even though he knew he had not been shooting well in practice or the scrimmages he has put in the work and preparation that leads to success on the court in game time. Loyola went on a 14-0 run from approximately the 16:30 mark through 14:30. With the score sitting at 50-39 the game still did not feel close, but if Loyola could keep the momentum going the game could get interesting down the stretch. Out of the under-12 media timeout Loyola kept the scoring going and combined it defensively with a zone to throw Georgetown off. Leading into the under-eight media timeout, Georgetown used a 6-0 run of their own to go up seventeen.

Loyola struggled to score for most of the second half, and Georgetown glided to victory. The final score was Georgetown 80 and Loyola 58.

Up next for Loyola, they will continue their local road trip by heading to Emmitsburg to take on Mount Saint Mary’s in the annual Catholic Clash. Georgetown will put their undefeated record on the line against the Maryland Terrapins.