No. 7 Georgetown Travels to Rutgers for BIG EAST Conference Opener on Saturday

Jan. 4, 2008

Washington, D.C. -

When Georgetown University men's basketball Head Coach John Thompson III was asked on Thursday afternoon what it would mean to the program for the Hoyas to repeat as regular season champions in the BIG EAST Conference, he reminded the assembled media that the team had not even played a game yet.

Georgetown opens up the 2008 BIG EAST Conference slate on Saturday afternoon, visiting Rutgers (8-6, 0-1). Tipoff at the Louis Brown Athletic Center is slated for 2 p.m. The game can be heard locally on AM 570 with Rich Chvotkin calling all of the action, and can be seen on MASN, with John Sanders and Mark Adams calling the game on the ESPN Regional broadcast.

Georgetown improved to 10-1 with an 82-55 win over Fordham on New Year's Eve. After winning eight-straight games to start the season, the Hoyas lost a non-league game to No. 2 Memphis and have bounced back with wins over American and Fordham. Georgetown is ranked No. 7 nationally in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll and No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' poll.

The Hoyas led the BIG EAST in scoring defense the last two seasons and have picked up where they left off, allowing opponents to score only 55.2 points per game. Since Thompson took over as head coach, Georgetown is 63-6 when opponents score 60 or fewer points, including a 31-2 mark in the last two seasons. Georgetown not only leads the BIG EAST in scoring defense, but the Hoyas top the 16-team league in field goal percentage, connecting on 52.6 percent of their shots from the field. The Blue and Gray have hit at least 50 percent of their field goals six times this season.

GU ranked No. 1 in the country in both scoring defense and in field goal percentage defense in the most recent NCAA statistics rankings.

Preseason All-American and BIG EAST Player of the Year Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep) is second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points and leads the team with 6.2 boards; he is fourth in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (62.8%, 49-of-78) and 5th in blocked shots (2.1 per game). Sophomore forward DaJuan Summers (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) leads the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and has scored in double figures in the last seven games.

The Hoya starting lineup features four players with a combined 304 starts during their careers: senior guard Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) will start his 114th game today; he has started every game since coming to the Hilltop.

Freshman Austin Freeman (Mitchelville, Md./DeMatha) made his first career start vs. Fordham, scoring 12 points. He has led the team in scoring in three of the last five games, averaging 13.2 points and shooting 66.7 percent from the field in that span.

Georgetown has scored at least 69 points five times this season. Under Thompson, the Hoyas are 43-3 when scoring at least 69 points.

Today's game with Rutgers is the 38th meeting all-time between the schools. Georgetown leads the head-to-head series, 22-15. The Hoyas have won the last five games in the series. Georgetown is 13-7 against Rutgers in BIG EAST play.

Print Friendly Version