The Georgetown Hoyas beat No. 17 Villanova on Wednesday night, pulling off an 85-73 victory on their home floor.

Ever since Patrick Ewing took over the Georgetown Hoyas basketball program, it’s been an up-and-down ride. Yet, that was expected, he was in charge of the program’s rebuild, after all. And while last season had its fair share of high points, the Hoyas have improved this year, thanks in large part to a compelling group of freshman.

On Wednesday, Ewing and company put a real feather in their cap, beating No. 17 Villanova at home to improve to 16-10 on the season and 6-7 in Big East play. The victory was significant for several reasons; first, the win was the Hoyas’ 16th of the season, topping last year’s total (15), and on top of that, the win was Ewing’s first against a ranked opponent in two seasons as head coach.

Before the 85-73 victory over the Wildcats, the Ewing-era Hoyas were 0-7 against nationally-ranked programs.

As for the game itself, freshman Mac McClung and senior Jessie Govan each scored 21 points for Georgetown, who led 42-32 at halftime, while freshman James Akinjo chipped in 10 points of his own, as well as nine assists. No other Hoyas’ player scored in double-figures but their bench hit several big shots. As a unit, the Hoyas were hot from the outside, shooting 39.3 percent from deep (11-for-28), but their bench was really effective, shooting 50 percent from downtown (3-for-6).

It should be noted that, according to KenPom, Patrick Ewing had a 1-7 record against Top-25 teams prior to Wednesday, improving to 2-7 after the win over Villanova.

Featured Image: Keith Allison [CC BY-SA 2.0], from Flickr