Wisconsin vs. Georgetown: Score, Highlights and Reaction from 2K Sports Classic

A stout defensive effort from Georgetown on Saturday night led the Hoyas to a 71-61 victory over Wisconsin Badgers in the semifinals of the 2K Classic from Madison Square Garden.

The Hoyas held Wisconsin to 33.9 percent shooting on the night for their first win of the season. Georgetown came into Friday night with an 0-2 record, its worst start since 1998.

Isaac Copeland's 15 points and Reggie Cameron's 14 led Georgetown thanks to their three-point shooting ability. 

Their effort was enough to get by Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes, who scored a game-high 22 points.

Both offenses were ice cold to start the game, as a single point wasn't registered until three minutes into the game. It was Georgetown that got going first, going on a 9-2 run as Wisconsin hit just one of its first 13 shots. 

W-USA TV's David Owens wasn't impressed with the offensive outputs to start:

"

#Georgetown and #Wisconsin..first team to 20 wins

— David Owens (@DaveOwenssports) November 20, 2015"

Wisconsin wasn't doing much to try to penetrate the Georgetown defense, settling for outside jump shots for most of the first half. When Hayes announced his presence, that willed the Badgers offense, using his 11 first-half points to make their way back into the game. 

He was doing plenty of damage with his mid-range game, as 247Sports.com's Evan Flood points out:

Georgetown's Cameron, who came off the bench, was the only player on the floor finding success from outside to start. He began the game 4-of-4 from three-point range, helping the Hoyas hold a five-point lead at the half. 

Wisconsin attempted to chip away in the second half and drew to within as little as two, but Georgetown continued to find answers to continually pad its advantage. 

Once the Hoyas defense re-established itself, it began to pull away midway through the second half. Copeland picked up from three-point range in the second half where Cameron left off in the first, sinking three of four shots from long range. His third three-pointer opened up a 12-point lead.

Georgetown's depth ensured that there was no drop-off in production while its starters rested. Freshman guard Kaleb Johnson's defensive effort was impressing Hoyas247 in his third-ever game with the program:

He was one of the Hoyas who was guarding Wisconsin leading scorer Bronson Koenig, who came into Friday night averaging 19.0 points per game. Georgetown wasn't letting him out of its sights, as it held him to nine points on 2-of-12 shooting. 

The Hoyas' leading scorer didn't find much success either on Saturday night. Forward Bradley Hayes, who was averaging a monster double-double of 17.5 points and 10.0 rebounds had just four and two. 

It's a letdown game for Wisconsin, who drops to 2-2 this season, though this is more of a quality loss compared to its first one against Western Illinois. The Badgers will need to figure out where they can spread the scoring when Koenig is having an off night, as they cannot rely solely on Hayes.

For Georgetown, the 0-2 start of the season could have been deceiving. Especially after it hung with No. 3 Maryland on Tuesday.

Getting scoring from all corners of the roster will be promising, as the Hoyas hold four or five players who are capable of putting up double-digit scoring outputs on any given night. That will be difficult for opposing defenses to stop as the season progresses.

Georgetown will play the winner of VCU and Duke in the 2K Classic Championship Game on Sunday. 

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com