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Jan. 12, 2007
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University men's basketball team hit the road on Friday for the first of three-straight BIG EAST Conference road games. The Hoyas (11-4, 1-1 BIG EAST) play No. 7 Pittsburgh (15-2, 3-0) on Saturday night at the Petersen Events Center. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. ET. The game will be shown nationally on ESPN, with Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Erin Andrews calling the action. The game can be heard locally on AM 570, with the "Voice of Georgetown Basketball," Rich Chvotkin.
The Hoyas had a seven-game win streak, and a six-game Verizon Center win streak, end on Monday night in a 56-52 loss to Villanova. The Hoyas, who had hit at least 50 percent of their field goals in six of the previous seven games, shot 42.1 percent from the floor, the team's lowest percentage since hitting 41.5 percent in the season opener against Hartford. The Hoyas enter tonight's game with an 11-4 overall record and a 1-1 slate in BIG EAST play. Georgetown has an all-time record of 258-178 since the BIG EAST began in 1979-80. Freshman forward DaJuan Summers (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) led the team in scoring against Villanova, scoring 16 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Junior center Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep) is one of three players averaging at least 11 points per game, leading the team with 11.7. Junior Jeff Green (Hyattsville, Md./Northwestern) is second on the team with 11.6 points and leads the squad with 6.2 rebounds, while junior Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) is third with 11.3 points and leads the team with 3.4 assists per game. During Georgetown's seven game win streak, the Hoyas connected on 55.0 percent of their field goals (180-of-327) and 43.4 percent of their three-pointers (63-of-145). The team also held a 35.3 to 22.1 advantage on the glass and they averaged 17.0 assists per game. The Hoyas' average margin of victory in those games was 25.4 points. Georgetown is shooting 51.0 percent from the field and ranks No. 5 nationally in FG percentage. The team is fifth nationally in scoring defense (54.5 ppg). The Blue and Gray have hit at least 50 percent of their field goals in nine of 15 games this season. The team is 27-3 when hitting 50% of their field goals since Thompson's arrival. Georgetown is 27-1 under Thompson when scoring at least 69 points. The Hoyas have been sharp from long distance as well, shooting 37.3 percent and averaging 6.9 treys per game.
Pittsburgh enters Saturday night's game with a 15-2 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the BIG EAST. The Panthers have won five-straight games after suffering their only two losses of the season, back-to-back losses away from home against Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. Pittsburgh is ranked No. 7 nationally in the Associated Press Top 25 and in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll. Junior center Aaron Gray is one of three players in double figures for the Panthers, leading the team with 14.9 points per game. He leads the team, and is second in the BIG EAST, in rebounding with 10.2 boards per game. Gray ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, connecting on 59.3 percent of his shots from the field. Junior forward Mike Cook is second on the team with 11.6 points per game, has handed out 2.9 assists per game and is shooting 53.4 percent from the floor. Senior guard Antonio Graves is third on the team in scoring with 10.5 points per game and is second on the team with 27 three-pointers, connecting on 50.9 percent of his shots from outside the arc. Six other players are averaging at least 4.0 points per game, with sophomore guard Levance Fields leading the way at 9.7 points per game. Fields has handed out a team-best 5.1 assists per game. Junior guard Ronald Ramon is scoring 8.3 points per game and handing out 2.9 assists per game. Ramon has hit a team-high 36 three-pointers. Sophomore forward Sam Young is averaging 5.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game and senior forward Levon Kendall is contributing 5.4 points and is second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game. The Panthers are scoring 75.4 points per game and yielding 61.9 per game. The team is connecting on 49.5 percent of its field goals and 40.0 percent from three-point land, averaging 6.6 shots from outside the arc per game. They hold a 37.2 to 30.7 rebounding average.
Georgetown and Pittsburgh meet for the 67th time on Saturday night. The Hoyas lead the head-to-head series, 37-29. Georgetown has won the last two meetings between the teams, but Pittsburgh has won five of the last seven. Georgetown posted a 67-64 win over the Panthers in the 2004-05 conference opener and posted a 61-58 win last year at Verizon Center. GU is 14-18 on the road against Pittsburgh.
