Arkansas State guard Devin Carter had 25 points and the Red Wolves held off a furious Georgetown comeback late to earn a 78-72 victory on the road on Thursday.

Two days after blowing a nine-point lead with 2:21 to play in a 76-75 loss to Maryland, the Hoyas came agonizingly close to turning the tables against the Red Wolves after a terrible first 20 minutes.

Led by Carter's 19 first-half points, Arkansas State led 48-29 at the break, shooting 65.4 percent from the floor. The Hoyas were held to 33 percent shooting and went 0-for-6 from three-point range.

Georgetown opened the second half with five quick points, forcing an Arkansas State timeout after just 1:37. But the Hoyas couldn't cut the margin to single digits until guard Rodney Pryor's jumper made it 73-65 with 4:31 left.

It was 74-65 when Hoya guard Jagan Mosely made a layup to cut the lead to seven with 2:58 left. Arkansas State's guard Donte Thomas committed an offensive foul, and Pryor hit a 3-pointer to make it 74-70 with 1:35 left.

Thomas missed a pair of free throws, but Georgetown came up empty on the other end. Mosely stole the ball on the ensuing possession, and guard L.J. Peak hit two free throws to get Georgetown within 74-72 with 50.7 seconds left.

After a couple of missed shots and offensive rebounds, C.J. Foster got fouled and made one of his two free throw attempts. Peak's inbounds pass was picked off by guard Deven Simms, who made both free throws to push the lead back to five. A free throw by guard Rashad Lindsey with two seconds left provided the final margin.

Simms had 13 points off the bench for Arkansas State. Thomas and Lindsey each had a dozen.

Guard Jessie Govan had 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting to lead Georgetown.