March 11, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Georgetown Hoyas guard Kayvan Mulready (45) dunks through the DePaul Blue Demons’ defense in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Image NEW YORK — Reserve Vince Iwuchukwu had 17 points and 14 rebounds as 11th-seeded Georgetown earned a 63-56 win over sixth-seeded DePaul in the opening round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday night.
The Hoyas (15-17) have won two straight following a seven-game losing streak and will face third-seeded Villanova in the quarterfinals Thursday night.
Jeremiah Williams also scored 17 points for the Hoyas before fouling out late in the contest when Iwuchukwu helped Georgetown pull away in the final minutes.
Iwuchukwu, a reserve player on last season’s St. John’s Big East title team, scored 14 points in the second half. The forward had nine goals in the final three minutes after DePaul cut the lead to 44-42 on a pair of 3-pointers by Kruz McClure, his second with 6:35 remaining.
Iwuchukwu hit a 3 with 3:54 left to take a 51-45 lead, added a putback dunk 52 seconds later for an eight-point lead, and hit a pair of free throws with 68 seconds left to take the lead to 57-49. I hit another pair on the line in the last few seconds.
Iwuchukwu recorded his fifth double-double by shooting 4 of 9 and 7 of 8 free throws in 23 minutes. He also helped the Hoyas achieve a 42-30 rebounding edge.
Malik Mack contributed 16 points as the Hoyas shot 52 percent in the second half and 39.3 percent overall.
Layden Blocker had 16 points off the bench but led DePaul (16-16) with 5-of-14 shooting. NJ Benson added 12, but CJ Gunn had 7 on 3-of-13 shooting.
DePaul shot 34.5% and was 9 of 21 from 3-point range. The Blue Demons also struggled at the rim, missing 12 of 16 layups.
The Blue Demons were held to fewer than 60 points for the sixth time this season and were unable to produce as much drama as they did in last season’s tournament loss to Villanova or a double overtime loss to Creighton.
DePaul missed 9 of 10 shots until Blocker’s three tied the game at 19-19 with 2:07 left in the first half and the Blue Demons took a 24-21 lead into halftime. The Blue Demons then missed eight straight shots early in the second half, and Georgetown took a 35-28 lead on Iwuchukwu’s counterattack with 13:24 left.
The Hoyas took a double-digit lead for the first time when Caleb Williams hit a layup for a 42-32 edge with 9:01 left. After the teams traded baskets, DePaul scored eight straight points before Georgetown regained control and closed out.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
