Jan. 11, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The seventh-ranked Georgetown University men's basketball team will play its first conference home game of the BIG EAST season on Saturday afternoon, hosting Connecticut. The game marks the 58th meeting between the Hoyas and Huskies, with GU holding a 30-27 series edge. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET, with the game airing live on ESPN (Dave O'Brien, play-by-play; Doris Burke, color analyst). Locally, fans can tune to SportsTalk 980 AM, with Rich Chvotkin providing the calls.
Georgetown won its fourth-straight game on Tuesday, defeating DePaul in its second BIG EAST Conference game, 76-60, at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Ill. The Hoyas, who are ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' poll, improved to 12-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.
The Hoyas are ranked No. 1 in the country in field goal percentage (52.4%), field goal percentage defense (34.6%) and fifth in the country in scoring defense (54.8 ppg) in the latest statistical rankings from the NCAA. The Hoyas lead the BIG EAST in four different statistical categories: scoring defense, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.0%).
The Hoya starting lineup features four players with a combined 312 starts during their careers: senior guard Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) will start his 116th game today; he has started every game since coming to the Hilltop. Wallace, who scored his 1,00th-career point and became the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals during the team's win against Fordham, is third on the team in scoring with 10.5 points per game, while adding 2.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Preseason All-American and BIG EAST Player of the Year Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep) leads the team in scoring with 12.0 points and leads the team with 6.4 boards; he is third in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (60.2%, 56-of-93) and fifth in blocked shots (2.3 per game). He comes off one of his best performances of the season, scoring 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists at DePaul. Hibbert will start his 101st career game on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore forward DaJuan Summers (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) is second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games. During that span, he is averaging 13.8 points and 5.2 rebounds, while connecting on 53.2 percent of his field goals (42-of-79).
Freshman Austin Freeman (Mitchelville, Md./DeMatha) has scored 13 points in each of his first two career starts. He has led the team in scoring in four of the last seven games, averaging 13.1 points and shooting 64.8 percent from the field in that span. Junior guard Jessie Sapp (New York, N.Y./National Christian Academy [Md.]) is fifth on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg), leads the team in assists (3.5 apg) and is third in rebounding (4.2 rpg).
