The Warriors went 3 for 4 with four foul shots over a run which saw them narrow the Georgetown lead to three at the eight minute mark. The Hoyas were shooting at a blistering 64 percent rate, but Marquette was not far behind at 57 percent, picking up free throws as Georgetown settled into the bonus. Marquette took two brief leads in the half, only to see Georgetown beat back the challenge: a three pointer by Austin Freeman at the 6:23 mark and a Greg Monroe layup with 3:41 left. Georgetown led by three entering the final minute of the half when a Lazar Hayward three with 42 seconds tied the score, and the teams went to intermission at 42-all.

For an underdog, Georgetown's efforts were exemplary: 65% shooting, 6-8 from three point range, and 15 assists in 17 field goals. That an effort like that only netted a tie was a recognition of just how good Marquette was, and just how much more would be needed in the second half.

The key to Marquette's second half effort was Wesley Matthews. Held to just four points at the break, he would score 19 in the second half, giving the Warriors leads at 45-44 and 52-50, the latter on a three point shot with 15:15 to play. Georgetown answered with a Nikita Mescheriakov downcourt pass to Jason Clark to tie the score at 52-all, but the Warriors pulled ahead with a 7-0 run in the next 1:43 that Georgetown could not overcome.

Marquette picked up a Hayward jumper, 54-52, and after Matthews had missed on a long three pointer, reserve Jimmy Butler snagged the offensive rebound which set up McNeal for a three, 57-52. A backcourt turnover by Greg Monroe set up Matthews for a dunk, 59-52. The Hoyas closed to five, 59-54, but would not get closer thereafter.

The second half opened much like the first, with the Hoyas falling behind early, battling back to tie the score at 35 with an Austin freeman three at the 16:26 mark, 35-all. Georgetown opened the half shooting 7-11 and took a 43-42 lead with under 12 minutes to play, but settled in for another rough ending, hitting just 5 of 16 thereafter and 1 of 8 from three after Freeman's three pointer at the 16:26 mark.

The Bearcats made an move to separate themselves at the 8:15 mark, as reserve Deon Dixon keyed a 7-2 run that gave the bearcats a 54-49 lead. A basket and foul by Austin Freeman and a three pointer by Jason Clark (the only three in the last 16:26) gave the Hoyas a 55-54 lead with 4:41 to play, but Dixon answered with a big three that swung momentum back to the homestanding Bearcats and the Hoyas never recovered. Georgetown missed four three point attempts in the final three minutes as UC went 6-8 from the foul line to pull away.

Seton Hall has had a bad habit of players this season of running out of depth in games, and it looked to happen again, when big men John Garcia and Mike Davis each picked up their fourth foul within 50 seconds of each other, Garcia's coming on a hard foul on Dajuan Summers and a subsequent technical foul after the play. A Jessie Sapp three at the 16:30 mark gave Georgetown a seven point lead and Greg Monroe basket at the 15:50 mark extended the mark to 40-31, which appeared to put the Hoyas in good stead. Instead, it would be the last basket scored by Georgetown for the next nine minutes, as a combination of an improved Seton Hall defense, numerous Georgetown turnovers, and astoundingly poor outside shooting drove this game right off the track.

With neither team shooting well, the two teams engaged in a battle at the free throw line for the next three minutes, owing that Seton Hall had not made a three all afternoon and had no options inside. Struggling from outside (0-11 from, three) Jeremy Hazell began to assert himself to the basket: his drive and foul gave the Hall a 47-46 lead at the 10:06 mark.

Greg Monroe's basket at the 6:25 mark ended Georgetown's field goal drought and tied the score at 50-all, and he accounted for the next six points to get the Hoyas to a 56-55 lead with 4:20 to play, only to see the Hoyas give up cheap fouls inside and struggle to set up the ball, with a pair of shot clock violations and two others averted by ill-advised threes .

Georgetown had stayed alive in this game at the line, making 15 straight, and Monroe was a big part of the run. Monroe went to the line with 1:37 left, down three at 61-58, and was bumped approaching the line by a Seton Hall player trying to rattle him. The result? Monroe missed both shots.

With 5:00 left in the half, the game was tied, but WVU began to work the boards and GU did not respond. Reserve forward John Flowers keyed a 9-0 WVU run to extend its lead to 31-22, as Georgetown missed three three point attempts, two foul shots, and allowed two of its 11 first half turnovers. A pair of WVU turnovers allowed the Hoyas to close to five at the half, 31-26. Georgetown had as many field goals as turnovers (11), missed 6 of 7 three point attempts, and gave up 15 points to Butler.

Yet despite its success inside with Monroe, the Hoyas reverted to a style of ill advised threes last seen in the days of Tony Bethel and Drew Hall. Trailing by just two, Chris Wright, Jason Clark and Austin Freeman each settled for threes, which failed to drop, and Butler and Devin Ebanks pressed the lead back to six, 49-43. The lowest ranked defensive rebounding team in the conference began to own the boards, with WVU picking up six in a four minute swing which saw Butler and Ruoff shatter Georgetown's defenses for open looks and a ten point lead with 7:26 to play.

Georgetown was running out of time and its execution served them no good. The Hoyas had no outside shot and while Monroe could get points inside, key misses at the free throw line seemed to spell the end of Georgetown's heart in this one. Down 59-52 with 4:59 to play, Georgetown missed four of six free throws and seven of nine field goal attempts down the stretch, answered by WVU in the form of open jumpers, second chance points, and dunks. Georgetown did not have an assist in the final 6:54 of the game.

Georgetown shot a dismal 2-16 from outside the arc, a season low. Worse than the bad shooting was a dispirited defense which saw the Mountaineers shoot 58 percent in the second half and collect 22 points in the paint. Georgetown was outrebounded 22-15 in the second half, with only six defensive rebounds in the half compared to eight offensive rebounds for the Mountaineers. The Hoyas finished with 20 baskets against 19 turnovers, allowing 34 points in the paint and a 7 for 9 effort inside by Butler, who finished with 27 points and eight rebounds.

"It's surprising we lost the game," said sophomore Chris Wright in post-gamed comments. "We just got to move on to the next game. I understand it wasn't a great game for us offensively or defensively. They made shots, they made plays; we didn't."

"Our poor defensive effort was a function of us getting frustrated about the ball not going in," said coach John Thompson III, who has seen Georgetown's game plan wither amidst teams that seemingly want it more than the Hoyas do.

Sunday's opponent, a Seton Hall team which is winless at 0-6, wants a win. Georgetown cannot afford a repeat of this effort.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.

            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       31   5-6   0-2   3-5   3   0  4   13
Sapp         21   0-0   1-2   0-0   2   2  3    3
Freeman      34   1-4   0-2   7-8   3   0  3    9
Summers      36   3-7   1-7   3-6   3   1  0   12
Monroe       36   4-10  0-0   3-6   8   4  3   11
Reserves:
Mescheriakov  1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Clark        24   2-4   0-2   0-0   3   0  1    4
Vaughn        4   0-1   0-0   0-0   1   1  1    0
Sims          3   1-1   0-0   0-0   2   0  0    2
Wattad       16   2-2   0-1   0-0   0   0  1    4
DNP: Jansen
Team Rebounds                       6
TOTALS      200 18-35  2-16 16-25  31   8 16   58

Additional links follow below.

• GUHoyas.com
• MSN Sports.net
• Associated Press
• Charleston Daily Mail
• Charleston Gazette
• Charleston Gazette (2)
• Daily Athenaeum
• Daily Athenaeum (2)
• Fairmont Times-West Virginian
• The HOYA
• The HOYA (2)
• Washington Examiner
• Washington Post
• Washington Times

And how about this strange statistic: since 1977, Georgetown is 1-4 against Division I opponents in the first game after the inauguration of a new president and has now lost three straight: in 1993 to UNLV following the first Clinton inaugural, a loss to Pitt in 2001 following the first George W. Bush inaugural, and Thursday's loss to WVU following the Barack Obama inaugural.

By train, by plane, by bus, or even a few on foot, people are coming to Washington for Tuesday's inauguration. For one well known Georgetown figure who's seen a lot over his 67 years, he wouldn't miss it.

The inauguration of Barack Obama is "the greatest thing to happen to African-Americans since the Emancipation Proclamation", said former coach John Thompson in this link to the Associated Press.

Also returning to town is Dikembe Mutombo (SLL'91), who will welcome his father from the Congo to witness the ceremonies. "We have the son of an African man, not from a second or third generation, from the first generation. That brings so much joy and so much pride for me."

"I don't even believe he was really looking at the bench, but I know I definitely didn't say anything. I can't say if I heard someone else, but I know I definitely didn't say anything."--Greg Monroe

Seventeen first half points from Gerald Henderson and a 15 point, 16 rebound effort from Kyle Singler led #3-ranked Duke to a 76-67 win over Georgetown in Durham, NC.

The game featured a number of impressive runs by both clubs and notable individual performances. Two fouls, one in each half, proved pivotal to Georgetown's chances in this game, and each went against the #13 ranked Hoyas.

Both teams started out well, but after Austin Freeman picked up his second foul less than three minutes into the half, Georgetown needed a boost, and got it from Dajuan Summers and Greg Monroe. The two combined to shoot 9 for 10 from the field during a run where the Hoyas shot 67 percent as a team and helped stay ahead ahead of forward Gerald Henderson, who singlehandedly was keeping Duke in the game, scoring 11 of the Blue Devils' first 23 points.

A three pointer by Austin Freeman gave the Hoyas a 27-23 lead with 7:58 to play, and and the 6:03 mark the Hoyas still led by two when Greg Monroe picked up his second foul and went to the bench. Monroe's exit was a door closing on the Hoyas in a big way, as Georgetown failed to score a basket the rest of the half. Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson piloted a 17-2 Duke run to end the half, thrilling the home crowd and giving Duke a 40-29 halftime lead, thanks to 55 percent shooting from the field and six threes in the half. From its 12-18 start from the floor, Georgetown finished 0-10 and saw only two points come off the bench by intermission.

The second half opened in much the same fashion, as a missed layup and turnover allowed Duke a pair of baskets and a 15 point lead, 44-29, within the first two minutes of the second half. But much as they had done early in the first half, Georgetown returned to good shooting and even better defense. A pair of jumpers by Jason Clark got the Hoyas to ten, a Greg Monroe basket to eight, and Summers scored six straight points to close to four, 46-42 at the 15:34 mark. Georgetown had held Duke to 1-6 shooting over that stretch and its 13-2 run had revived the Hoyas cause. Twenty-two seconds later, a questionable call set in motion one of the more memorable calls in recent Hoya history.

The Duke play picked up across the board. 6-8 Kyle Singler went to work on the boards, collecting 11 in the second half and 16 overall. Layups by Singler and guard Jon Scheyer extended the lead back to ten, 52-42, while a pair of long jumpers by senior greg Paulus extended the lead to 12 at 57-45 with 12:32 left. Sophomore Omar Wattad missed a pair of free throws, answered by Henderson's first points of the half, 59-45, and off a long miss by Chris Wright, point guard Nolan Smith weaved through the GU defense to go up 16, 51-45, a 15-3 run since Monroe's technical.

The teams traded points down the stretch, whereupon the Hoyas closed to eight at the 3:36 mark off a pair of baskets by Austin Freeman. A Gerald Henderson basket was answered by Monroe, 70-62, but with 2:05 time was running out. Duke began to work the free throw line to maintain the lead. An Omar Wattad three pointer closed to Hoyas five at 72-67, but the Blue Devils sank their final four free throws over 37 seconds to close out the win.

"I thought Kyle [Singler]’s rebounding performance was spectacular – 16 rebounds in this game when we only had 32, although there weren’t that many missed shots," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "That’s a spectacular performance."

Despite Monroe's troubles, Georgetown's second half shooting was remarkable at 61 percent, led by nine points each from Summers and Clark. Guards Chris Wright and Jessie Sapp remained ineffective, however, with Wright going 1-2 from the field in the half and Sapp failing to take a shot, as he played only three minutes after halftime and did not score for the first game since the 2006 NCAA regional semifinal versus Florida, a run of 85 straight games.Summers finished with 21 points for a second straight game, followed by Freeman with 15 and Clark with 12.

"The [second half starting group] was playing well," said Thompson in post-game comments. "We were down 15 or 16 and got it to four. Then they got a little tired and the lead went back to 11 or 12 I think. We got them back in there and the lead went back down again so this group was playing well together."

Duke finished 12-13 from the free throw line compared to just 10-18 for Georgetown, a statistic that reminds the reader that when the margin remains ever so slight between top teams, poor free throw shooting can come back and bite good teams every time.

"The technical was a key part of the game, let’s not try to run from that, it was a key part of the game," Thompson recalled. Noting Monroe's protest at Cahill's call, Thompson said that "He was just saying to me 'I didn't say anything, I didn't say anything'. I don't know what went through his mind, but that's what his reaction was."

"It clearly altered how they attacked us and what we could do, but that's not the reason that we ended up with less points than them tonight," he continued. "They played very well. They made plays, particularly in the first half. Early in the first half they were making tough shots. We played the defense, but they were making tough shots. Then there was a stretch in the second half where we were getting good looks, the ball just wasn't going in, so that's sports, that's basketball, that's life. They beat us today."

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.

            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       22   1-4   0-2   1-1   4   5  0    3
Sapp         19   0-1   0-1   0-1   2   2  2    0
Freeman      32   6-10  1-3   0-0   3   1  3   15
Summers      37   5-8   2-4   5-10  7   0  1   21
Monroe       28   6-7   0-0   0-0   6   4  4   12
Reserves:
Clark        26   3-4   1-3   0-0   3   2  4    9
Vaughn        6   0-0   0-0   2-2   1   0  0    2
Sims          6   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   0  2    0
Wattad       24   0-1   1-2   2-4   1   1  3    5
DNP: Mescheriakov, Jansen
Team Rebounds                       2      
TOTALS      200 21-36  5-15 10-18  29  14 17   67

Additional post-game coverage follows below.

• GUHoyas.com
• GoDuke.com
• Associated Press
• Charlotte Observer
• Duke Basketball Report (recap)
• Duke Basketball Report (play by play analysis)
• Duke Chronicle
• Greensboro News & Record
• The HOYA
• The HOYA (2)
• Hoya Hoops Blog
• Hoya Prospectus
• NY Daily News
• Raleigh News & Observer
• Raleigh News & Observer (2)
• Washington Post
• Washington Post (2)
• Washington Times
• Winston-Salem Journal

"For the first time all season, the Syracuse players walked off the court after the final buzzer knowing what it feels like to be completely overmatched."--Syracuse Daily Orange

Dajuan Summers and Austin Freeman led a strong team effort as Georgetown upset the #8-ranked Syracuse Orangemen 88-74 at Verizon Center, shooting 59 percent from the field and hitting 12 three pointers in the upset.

Georgetown works best from an early lead and the Hoyas got that in this one, holding the Orangemen to 1-8 shooting to open the game to build a 10-2 lead. As Chris Wright picked up two early fouls and Syracuse hit the boards, second chance points led the Orangemen back in the game. By the midway point of the first half, Georgetown had missed four straight shots and Syracuse had cut the lead to 17-14.

Enter Nikita Mescheriakov.

To say that the 6-9 sophomore would be an unlikely scoring hero may be an understatement - Mescheriakov entered the game shooting just 2-14 on the season but John Thompson saw an opportunity, and Mescheriakov delivered. Left open at the top of the key, Mescheriakov hit a three pointer to rally the Hoyas, than stuck it to the Orangemen again on the next possession. After colliding with Syracuse's Andy Rautins in a play that sent Rautins to the bench with a sore knee, Mescheriakov was done for the night, but he keyed what will long be talked about as one of the great first half runs in this storied series.

Mescheriakov's threes built the lead to six, 23-17. A pair of Greg Monroe free throws extended the lead to eight, whereupon Syracuse missed layups in consecutive possessions and GU built the lead to 12. Freshman Henry Sims picked off Rick Jackson and set up Dajuan Summers for the dunk, 31-17. Paul Harris then lost the ball, and Jason Clark answered with a three, 34-17.

The hits just kept on coming. An Eric Devendorf miss was answered by an Austin Freeman three, then a Summers dunk, followed by a steal and breakaway dunk by Summers, whereupon he was knocked to the floor by Kristof Ongenaet, only to see Summers tagged with a technical foul for barking at Ongenaet on the way up. In a roughly seven minute stretch, Georgetown had gone from up three to up 21, shooting 9-11 from the field. By contrast, Syracuse shot 3-11, with six turnovers. Georgetown ended the half up 18, 50-32, shooting 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from three (8-16), and a +7 on rebounds (20-13).

Moreso than any game this year, the team concept was in full force. Dajuan Summers' 21 points were especially important in light of 12 second half points, something he has struggled with in recent games. Austin Freeman had one of his best games of the season, with 19 points on 7-10 scoring. Greg Monroe scored just 10 points but he added seven rebounds and six assists.

Georgetown's bench play was superb. Mescheriakov's threes were emblematic of a first class effort across the board, led by a career high 12 points from Jason Clark, along with five from Julian Vaughn and three each from Omar Wattad and Henry Sims. The bench shot 11-15 from the field in the game, a number unseen all season. The emergence of Clark at guard could prove a welcome scoring addition later in the season.

"We have confidence in each other," said coach John Thompson III. "When you get in the game you come in and do what you're supposed to do. Everyone was very good today, everyone helped out as a team. That was a team victory, in the truest sense of the word."

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.

            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       27   2-2   1-2   0-0   1   1  3    7
Sapp         19   1-2   0-2   0-0   3   1  1    2
Freeman      35   3-5   4-5   1-2   3   3  1   19
Summers      34   5-8   2-5   5-8   4   3  3   21
Monroe       28   3-8   0-0   4-4   7   6  3   10
Reserves:
Mescheriakov  2   0-0   2-2   0-0   0   0  0    6
Clark        26   3-3   2-3   0-0   1   0  2   12
Vaughn       12   2-3   0-0   1-2   2   4  3    5
Sims         11   1-2   0-0   1-2   3   2  1    3
Wattad        6   0-0   1-2   0-0   1   1  0    3
DNP: Jansen
Team Rebounds                       3      1
TOTALS      200 20-33 12-21 12-18  28  21 18   88

Post game articles follow below.

• GUHoyas.com
• Syracuse Athletics
• Associated Press
• Cuse Country
• Daily Orange
• Daily Orange (2)
• Daily Orange (3)
• Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
• Georgetown Voice
• Georgetown Voice (2)
• The HOYA
• The HOYA (2)
• Hoya Hoops Blog
• Hoya Prospectus
• Syracuse Post-Standard
• Syracuse Post-Standard (2)
• Syracuse Post-Standard (3)
• Syracuse Post-Standard (4)
• Syracuse Post-Standard (5)
• Washington Examiner
• Washington Post
• Washington Post (2)
• Washington Times

Greg Monroe's 13 points and 11 rebounds keyed a a second half comeback in an 82-75 win over Providence College Saturday at Verizon Center, ending a two game losing streak for the #9-ranked Hoyas. The game was a test of both coaches, as each endured a number of swings in a game that could have gone either way.

Georgetown's early lad was fleeting, thanks in large part to turnovers. The Hoyas gave up three turnovers in a four possessions stretch and seven in a seven minute stretch midway through the first half, shooting 1-7 from the field as Providence outscored Georgetown 13-2 and built a nine point lead midway in the first half. Georgetown took its game inside on both sides of the floor, clogging up the middle for providence and allowing the Hoyas a chance to tighten the game. Down 28-20 with under 5:00 to play in the half, the Hoyas held PC to just one field goal down the stretch and shot 5-8 from the field to close to three at the half, 36-33. Georgetown had shot 50 percent from the field but gave up 47 percent to the Friars, including five three pointers.

Georgetown's lead topped out at 16 with 7:52 to play and to a lot of onlookers, the game was approaching garbage time, but Providence never quite gave in. The Hoyas gave up a pair of turnovers and a missed layup in its next three possessions, and the Friars worked the gap to ten at the 5:00 mark, to seven with under 4:00 to play, and to just six with 2:13 to play from a Marshawn Brooks three pointer, 76-70. Georgetown could have extended the lead on its next possession, but Chris Wright stepped on the sideline and the Friars closed to 76-73. Wright gave up the ball a second straight time, but Weyinmi Efejuku missed a close-in shot that would have cut the lead to one. Monroe answered with a dunk and PC turned the ball over on its next series, allowing the Hoyas some well-needed breathing room in a game which was closer than it needed to be.

Saturday's game was a promising one for Georgetown's underclassmen, which must be major contributors if GU is to contend in conference play. In addition to Monroe, Jason Clark scored 10 points off the bench and freshmen center Henry Sims had some of the best efforts of his career to date, with five points and two rebounds in 14 minutes. Sophomores Chris Wright and Austin Freeman had big games as well, combining for 34 points and 11 rebounds.

Upperclassmen fared less well, however. Junior DaJuan Summers scored five of the team's first nine points and had nine at the half, but was saddled with foul problems and did not have a field goal in the second half, finishing with 12. Senior Jessie Sapp continues his mid-season shooting slump, shooting 1-6 in this game and just 6-28 (.214) in Big East play. Both will need to raise their game over a week where the Hoyas will meet #11 Syracuse and #2 Duke.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.

            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       32   5-7   2-3   0-2   4   3  3   16
Sapp         25   1-4   0-2   6-8   5   5  4    8
Freeman      33   7-9   0-2   4-6   7   2  2   18
Summers      26   2-4   1-2   5-6   5   0  4   12
Monroe       35   5-7   0-0   3-3  11   8  3   13
Reserves:
Clark        24   3-4   1-4   1-2   4   2  0   10
Vaughn        5   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  1    0
Sims         14   2-5   0-0   1-2   2   0  3    5
Wattad        6   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
DNP: Mescheriakov, Jansen
Team Rebounds                       3
TOTALS      200 25-40  4-13 20-29  41  20 20   82

Post game coverage follows below.

• GUHoyas.com
• Friars.com
• Associated Press
• The HOYA
• The HOYA (2)
• Providence Journal
• Washington Examiner
• Washington Post
• Washington Times

When John Thompson talks, people listen, so when the elder Thompson cited the need for his son's team to add a few "thugs" to improve Georgetown's rebounding, the Associated Press was quick with a story on the team...and the term.

"I've had various questions from you guys, 'What drills are you working on?' 'How are you working on it?', " said Thompson III. "We could do drills until the cows come home, and at the end of the day you've got to go get the ball. Can you improve on that? Hopefully." Asked to comment on his father's phrasing, he replied, "You can ask Pops what he thinks."

The team must have got the message: Georgetown held a 41-29 advantage on the boards Saturday.

Assistant coach Kenya Hunter was not on the bench in Saturday's game, and it has since been announced he is recovering from complications from a recent hip replacement, as noted at GUHoyas.com.

"Kenya is recuperating and our thoughts and prayers are with him," said coach John Thompson III.

Greg Monroe was named Big East Rookie of the Week for his efforts against Connecticut and Pittsburgh. Here's the news release from GUHoyas.com.

Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney combined for 48 points in a 73-67 win over Georgetown at the Joyce Center, a game that was not as close as the score might indicate.

Saturday's game versus Pitt had the air of a main event, but Monday's game seemed stuck in the sports undercard amidst the Fiesta Bowl and a subdued home arena during Notre Dame's Christmas break. The teams played relatively even for the first ten minutes of the first half, with foul trouble the early story. Georgetown's Dajuan Summers picked up two fouls by the 15:02 mark and ND's Luke Harangody picked up his second three minutes later. What each did with foul trouble set the course for the rest of the game.

Summers played sparingly in the first half, with little impact, and the sluggish play seemed to wear off on everyone but Greg Monroe, who had his third strong game in Big East play in as many starts. Georgetown led 13-11 and 20-19 before Harangody returned to form in the final five minutes of the half. Harangody, who had never scored more than 13 points against a Georgetown team in his college career, dominated on a 18-5 Irish run and a nine point halftime lead, 38-29. Georgetown was just 2-8 in Harangody's stretch, with two turnovers, as he finished with 19 first half points.

Georgetown still trailed by 11 entering the final four minutes, where Monroe closed the gap, only to see the Irish ice the game at the line. A 65% free throw shooting team at the line, ND sank 13 straight en route in the game and finished 17-18 from the line.

Georgetown was able to correct some of its most visible flaws from the Pitt game--it held the rebound edge and limited ND to just nine second chance points, down from 25 against Pitt, held a +16 in points in the paint, and got more time out of its bench. But in a conference that is so tight on the margin that a team can't afford to slide on the basics, missing 14 of 18 three point shots and a 13 of 22 effort from the line is not going to win games, whether it's Notre Dame or Rutgers. Georgetown, which was second in the league in 2007-08 in three point shooting, has now fallen to seventh in 2008-09 and its rebounding statistics place it firmly in the bottom of the conference.

Harangody finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, while Monroe finished with 21 points for the Hoyas, marking ND's 44th straight home win and its first victory against Georgetown in five games over the last three seasons.

"We're going to have those nights in this league and we have to be better at everything else when we're having those nights," said coach John Thompson III. "From foul shots on down, the ball just didn't go in the basket tonight so we have to get stops and we have to get rebounds and we have to make things more difficult for them.

"Every night you are going to be in a position where you can win every game and if everything isn't in order, you can lose every game."

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.

            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       31   4-8   1-6   2-4   5   4  4   13
Sapp         33   0-2   2-5   1-2   2   2  0    7
Freeman      30   2-4   0-2   1-2   3   3  2    5
Summers      22   3-5   0-2   5-5   5   0  4   11
Monroe       37   9-17  0-0   3-7  10   3  3   21
Reserves:
Clark        24   2-4   0-1   1-2   4   3  1    5
Vaughn        3   0-0   0-0   0-0   2   0  0    0
Sims         14   1-2   0-0   0-0   2   0  0    2
Wattad        6   0-0   1-2   0-0   0   0  1    3
DNP: Mescheriakov, Jansen
Team Rebounds                       4
TOTALS      200 21-42  4-18 13-22  37  15 15   67

Post game coverage follows below.

• GUHoyas.com
• UND.com
• Associated Press
• Chicago Tribune
• Fox Sports
• The HOYA
• Scout.com
• South Bend Tribune
• Washington Examiner
• Washington Post
• Washington Times

The HOYA has a follow-up to the story below about 2009 recruit Hollis Thompson enrolling early. While spring admits are unusual at Georgetown, they do happen, according to Charles Deacon, dean of admissions. "As a matter of practice, we do review applicants with special circumstances for spring admission on a regular basis," Deacon told the paper. "This spring, for example, there will be at least two new freshmen and about five new transfers."

Head coach John Thompson III follows a Georgetown practice maintained by his father as well as by Craig Esherick: no interviews until the second semester of a player's freshman year. It's now the second semester for Greg Monroe and the New York Times and Washington Post each got its first talk with the freshman center.

Monroe recalled the recruiting pitches at other schools, but said "[Coach Thompson] told me, ‘You’re going to come in, you’re going to work, you’re going to get better.,'" he told the Times. "He said he won’t let me come in and not get better. That was the one thing that really stood out. Also, him saying that everything that you do is going to be for the betterment of the team, and I think that was the biggest point that he made.”

"Greg is poised on the floor, he is poised off the floor," Thompson said in the Post article. "A lot of that goes toward the fact that [he] embraces helping his teammates. It's not just something that he's good at; it's not just something he has the God-given ability to do. But he gets pleasure in trying to help his teammates get better."

"DeJuan Blair is but one man, though he played better than five Hoyas."--Dana O'Neill, ESPN.com

It's January, and Pitt is it.

The soon to be #1-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers rolled over #11 Georgetown 70-54 before 19,397 at Verizon Center Saturday, exposing a number of weaknesses in the Hoyas' defensive sets.

Pitt (14-0, 2-0 Big East) opened up with the games first six points (via two layups and a jumper) and never trailed. The scene was set by both teams early in the half, with Georgetown failing to take advantage of opportunities and Pittsburgh taking advantage of nearly all of them.

Early in the game, with Pitt leading 8-5, Georgetown failed on four consecutive possessions to cut into the lead: a missed layup by freshman Greg Monroe, a missed layup by sophomore Chris Wright, a missed dunk by junior Dajuan Summers, and a missed three pointer by Jessie Sapp. The Panthers extended the lead to six at 11-5 but it was the largest lead of the half, thanks to a career first half from Summers, who was 6-9 from the field with three of Georgetown's four three pointers in the first half.

Summers' inspired play was all Georgetown could do to prevent a first half blowout by the Panthers, aided by ten offensive rebounds in the first half alone, which accounted for 13 second chance points. Georgetown had closed to one, 14-13, midway in the half, when the Panthers collected four offensive rebounds in a 1:20 period, converting them into seven points.

Georgetown played tough towards the end of the half, and trailed by only three despite hitting just one field goal in the final six minutes of the half, 33-30, relying on free throws to keep the margin close. Pitt owned a 24-15 rebound advantage and had held Georgetown to just 33 percent from the field in the half.

Monroe got inside for a dunk, 48-42, and added a second inside to close to 51-44 with 9:10 to play. But as Monroe was gaining momentum down low, Georgetown abandoned the mid-range shot, relying on long threes which did not play to its strength. Pitt shot poorly from three itself (1-10 in the half), but the rebounding came up big.

Off a three point miss, Tyrell Biggs added an easy scoop, 53-44. Chris Wright's three sailed wide and Blair connected on a dunk down low, 55-44. Another long outside miss by the Hoyas translated into a dunk and a 13 point lead, 57-44: a 17-4 run.

After Summers and Biggs were tagged with technical fouls for some close words, Wright found Monroe down low for a basket and foul shot to cut the lead to 10, 57-47. Sapp then stole the ball from Pitt's Gilbert Brown, offering faint hope of a comeback, but Sapp launched an errant three and Pitt came right back down for the score, 59-47. On Georgetown's next series, another long miss set up Blair for an offensive rebound and layup, 61-47 with 5:31 to go. Blair assisted on the next two Pitt baskets inside, then picked up his 10th offensive rebound of the afternoon and a dunk to extend the lead to 20 with 1:48 to play. Of Pitt's 37 points in the half, 22 were in the paint and 12 were via offensive rebound. He finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds, and three assists.

To illustrate how futile Georgetown's offense had become against the Panthers after the 14:28 mark of the second half, here is the Georgetown box score for the last 14 minutes of the game:

Last 14:    2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright      0-1   0-1   0-0   0   1  0    0
Sapp        0-1   0-2   0-0   0   1  0    0
Freeman     0-0   0-2   0-2   0   0  0    0
Summers     0-0   0-1   3-4   0   0  3    3
Monroe      4-4   0-0   1-1   1   1  0    9
Reserves:
Clark       1-1   0-1   0-0   0   0  0    2
Team Rebounds                 1
TOTALS      5-7   0-7   4-7   2   3  3   14

"They were saying, 'Who did Pitt play? Who did they play?' " Blair said in post-game comments, noting concern that none of Pitt's prior 13 opponents were nationally ranked. "We came into Georgetown, and we showed them what we can do. They can't say nothing now. We can play with anybody in the nation."

"They're not a great rebounding team," said Pitt's Sam Young. "We thought we could come in here and outrebound them by a lot. But we didn't think it was going to be like that." In fact, Pitt outrebounded Georgetown 48-23, 20-7 on the offensive boards. Pitt collected 12 baskets on second chance points.

[Monroe] is supposed to be the next big thing. They were picking this young cat against me, I'm not going to take that. Why not go right at him?" asked Blair. "I guess I got the better of him today." Monroe finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, no small feat against Blair's skill.

As to Summers' second half play, he responded after the game by saying that "During the second half they did a good job at taking away good looks and I didn't want to force anything. I wanted to do a better job at letting the game come to me."

"We got stops, they got the rebounds and put it back in and had some guys who have been making shots that didn't make shots today," said John Thompson III. "They've been there, they're experienced and it showed; they are a veteran team."

What I told the guys after the game was I was so impressed with our preparation," said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. "It was all about business and coming down here on Saturday."

And until these teams meet again, case closed.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.

            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       37   1-5   0-2   3-4   1   4  1    5
Sapp         29   0-2   1-5   0-0   0   3  0    3
Freeman      38   1-3   1-5   2-4   6   1  2    7
Summers      39   3-6   4-5   4-6   2   1  3   22
Monroe       34   6-12  0-1   3-3   8   2  2   15
Reserves:
Clark         9   1-1   0-1   0-0   0   0  0    2
Vaughn        5   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   0  1    0
Sims          1   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Wattad        8   0-0   0-1   0-0   0   1  0    0
DNP: Mescheriakov, Jansen
Team Rebounds                       6
TOTALS      200 12-31  6-20 12-17  23  12  9   54

Post game coverage follows below.

• GUHoyas.com
• PittsburghPanthers.com
• Associated Press
• DCist.com
• DC Sports Box
• The HOYA
• The HOYA (2)
• Hoya Prospectus
• New York Times
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2)
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
• Washington Examiner
• Washington Post
• Washington Times
• Washington Times (2)

Saturday's game ended 29 straight home wins dating back to the 2006-07 season. Here are the longest home win streaks in school history:

Georgetown recruit Hollis Thompson has enrolled for the spring 2009 semester, according to a release at GUHoyas.com

The 6-6 forward was a junior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles last season, before a transfer to DeLaSalle HS in Concord, CA this past fall. In December, before the start of basketball season, Thompson announced a transfer to the Atlanta, GA area, where his father had settled with a new job.

"There are no plans for him to play, but he will practice with the team as he acclimates himself to college life," said coach John Thompson III (no relation). "We feel this will be an exceptional opportunity for Hollis. It gives him a chance to adjust to life on and off the court before he begins intercollegiate competition in the 2009-2010 season." The release did not specify whether Hollis Thompson had completed his high school requirements at DeLaSalle or through another route.