Georgetown plans to land first punch vs. UMBC

Georgetown will set out to end a two-game losing streak when it takes on UMBC on Wednesday night in Washington.

Off to their best five-game start since the 2017-18 season, the Hoyas (5-2) struggled to find much to be thankful for last week in dropping their first two games of the season to Dayton and Miami at the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla.

The common culprit in both losses for coach Ed Cooley's Hoyas was early deficits.

"We just came out flat both games, honestly," Hoyas leading scorer Malik Mack told the media on Monday.

In the loss to Dayton, the Hoyas trailed 13-3 right out of the gate and by as many as 15 in the first half. Georgetown did use a late rally fueled by Mack's game-high 24 points to force overtime but it wasn't enough to avoid the loss.

In their consolation loss to Miami, the Hoyas trailed by 21 at the half and never got within striking distance despite a career-high 23 points from Caleb Williams.

Mack, who paces the Hoyas with 16.7 points and 4.3 assists per game, took the blame for the slow starts and also offered up a solution.

"It starts with me and KJ (Lewis)," Mack said.

"We have to come out and impact the game right away and not wait for anyone else. We have to start the game the right away and the rest of the guys will follow from there. I'll take the blame for that."

Lewis, who transferred from Arizona, is a tick behind Mack in scoring on the season at 16.6 points per game.

UMBC (5-2) has equaled its best start since the 2021-22 season, which was coach Jim Ferry's first year in charge of the Retrievers. UMBC is facing a power-conference opponent for the first time this season and has two wins over non-Division I opponents.

Jah'Likai King (12.9 ppg) and DJ Armstrong (12 ppg) led the Retrievers in scoring while Armstrong shoots 48.8% from 3-point range, knocking down three per game. As a team UMBC shoots 34.8% from deep compared to just 28.4% for the Hoyas.

--Field Level Media