GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- The fourth-ranked University of Pikeville men's basketball team ran into a second-ranked Georgetown team that shot 63 percent from the field in the second half on its way to a 93-85 win on Thursday in Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.

Georgetown trailed 52-51 after a layup by UPIKE's Macari Brooks with 12 minutes left to play, but went on to lead by as many as 20 points eight minutes later at 87-67 after a pair of Noah Cottrill free throws.

With Cottrill leading the way shooting 7 of 9 from deep, the Tigers connected on 7 of 10 threes in the final 20 minutes. They also hit 17 second-half free throws, compared to four for the Bears. It all added up to a drastic change of pace from the early going.

Jackson Hussey paced UPIKE (20-3, 7-3 MSC) with 21 points off the bench to go along with 10 rebounds and three steals, followed by K.K. Simmons with 20 and Christian Leach with 15.

Cottrill finished with a game-high 26 points and Deondre McWhorter muscled his way to a double-double of 18 points and 18 rebounds.

Neither team blistered the nets in the first half with UPIKE faring slightly better at 39 to 33 percent, but the Bears did a lot of the little things to keep themselves in front by the end of the half at 35-31. Part of that effort was a 28-22 lead on the glass, including a 10-6 edge on the offensive side.

The Bears needed them all as shots, especially from behind the arc, were just not falling.

UPIKE closed the first 20 minutes 1 of 8 from deep, but luckily for them, Georgetown (21-2, 9-2 MSC) made just 3 of 15. All three were buried by Cottrill, who had a game-best 11 points at the half.

Solid play from unexpected sources payed dividends for the Bears as Dmitri Reaves was an offensive weapon off the bench with four points and Michael Lewis grabbed four boards and blocked two shots, limiting McWhorter to just three first-half points.

Despite the game changing in the second half, including a late 12-2 Georgetown run to push its lead to 20, the Bears didn't go out without a fight. UPIKE got eight points in the final minute from Hussey, including two threes, to get within six with 20 seconds left.

Georgetown avoided the collapse by getting two makes from Trent Gilbert at the stripe as Hussey's next two attempts from deep were off the mark.

Up Next

No. 4 UPIKE travels to Portsmouth, Ohio to take on Shawnee State at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.

-UPIKE-