Sports

Angry Georgetown Hoops Coach Pelts Toddler With Water Bottle After Home Loss In Empty Arena

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Ed Cooley / Georgetown Hoyas

© Brad Mills-Imagn Images


The Georgetown basketball team fell to Big East rival Xavier on Saturday to fall to 8-4 on the year. Head coach Ed Cooley was visibly frustrated with his squad’s inability to pick up a win.

Near the end of the contest, he was seen throwing a water bottle from the sidelines into the stands in a moment of anger. That projectile drilled a young fan near the Hoyas‘ bench.

Georgetown watched a five-point halftime lead evaporate over the final 20 minutes of play. Cooley believes his team should’ve won.

The Hoyas outshot the Musketeers 43-14 at the free throw stripe. Xavier has six players log three fouls or more with Filip Borovicanin fouling out amid a double-double performance.

Unfortunately, Georgetown connected on just 25 of those 43 attempts. They shot 58% from the stripe, leaving 18 points on the floor.

Ed Cooley lost his cool.

Georgetown trailed by three points late in the action. Malik Mack missed a game-tying shot at the final buzzer. His head coach reacted by launching his water bottle into the crowd.

That misfire pelted a toddler sitting in his mother’s lap.

Cooley apologized after the game. He opened his press conference with a comment on the situation while expressing regret for losing his temper.

“Definitely out of character for me to be so frustrated, but really that’s not called for, and I’ll call them and make amends for that,” he said.

“I apologize to the fans, I apologize to our players, the university. Totally, totally out of character for me to be that way.”

That apology hasn’t prevented suspension demands from surfacing on social media.

Georgetown basketball has lost the fans.

The Hoyas have posted two winning seasons across the last decade. The most recent came last year with the team going 18-16.

That was Year 2 of the Ed Cooley era, representing a significant turnaround from his 9-23 debut. Still, it hasn’t been enough to bring interest back to the fanbase.

This was a conference matchup on a Saturday night with the team looking to stay unbeaten in Big East play. Xavier is a notable foe with a Pitino at the helm.

Still, no one showed up to the arena.

Attendance was reported to be just over 5,000. Less than 25% of the venue was filled. It makes the fact that Cooley actually hit someone with his water bottle all the more impressive. He had 15,000 empty seats to choose from!

Georgetown was mocked earlier this year by Providence coach Kim English for a lack of fan support. Despite getting off to a relatively strong start in the season, the issue remains.