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Big East Conference Hoya Saxa

Men's Basketball

South Florida Upends No. 7 Georgetown, 72-64

Feb. 3, 2010

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WASHINGTON - Sophomore center Greg Monroe (New Orleans, La./Helen Cox) scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but it wasn't enough as junior guard Dominique Jones scored a game-high 29 points for South Florida in a 72-64 win over the Hoyas in front of 12,207 at Verizon Center Wednesday night. The loss ends an 11-game home court win streak for the Hoyas, who fall to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in the BIG EAST, while South Florida, winners of four-straight games in league play, improves to 15-7 overall and 5-5 in league play.

Georgetown had led by nine points, 35-26, at the break, but USF used a 15-2 run midway through the second half to take an 8-point lead, 52-44 on a layup from Mike Mercer with 8:02 to play.

Junior guard Chris Wright (Bowie, Md./St. John's College HS) hit a pair of free throws and a tip-in from junior forward Julian Vaughn (Vienna, Va./Oak Hill Academy) cut the lead to four points, 52-48, with 7:20 to play, but Jones hit two free throws and Chris Howard followed with a jumper to push the lead back to eight points.

The Hoyas fought back and a jumper from junior guard Austin Freeman (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha).followed by a layup from Monroe and two free throws narrowed the gap to two points, 56-54, with 3:54 left to play.

Monroe hit a free throw with 2:28 to play to make it 57-55, but the sophomore fouled out with 2:52 left and Jarrid Famous hit a free throw to make it 58-55. After a missed 3-pointer from Wright,, Jones hit a jumper to push the lead to five points, 60-55, with 2:17 left. Freeman then hit one of two free throws to narrow the gap to four points, and Mercer followed with consecutive layups to push the lead back to eight points, 64-56, with 1:19 to play.

Freeman hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute, the latter cutting the lead to four points, 68-64, but the Bulls hit all six free throw attempts in the final 35 seconds to provide the final margin.

Georgetown led by nine points at the break and extended the margin 11 points early in the second half on a quick drive to the basket from Wright. The Hoyas still led by 11, 39-28, after a Wright layup with 18:34 left, but USF used a 14-3 run over 6:06, with Jones scoring six points, to tie the game at 42-all on free throws from Mercer. South Florida followed with a 10-2 run over 3:55, with Jones again scoring six points, to take the 52-44 lead on Mercer's layup.

The Hoyas had jumped out to a nine-point halftime lead, 35-26, thanks to a hot shooting first half, as the team connected on 60 percent of its field goals. Georgetown took a quick 5-2 lead after a layup from Freeman and a three from Clark, but the Bulls fought back and took a 10-9 lead on a dunk from Famous. Tied at 12-all after a layup from Alex Rivas, the Hoyas went on an 8-0 run over 2:21 and took a 20-12 lead on a jumper from Monroe with 9:42 to play in the half. Freeman started the run with a 4-point play, hitting a three-pointer and the ensuing foul shot after he was fouled, while Monroe added the final two baskets.

South Florida narrowed the gap to three points on two occasions, the last on a layup from Jones that cut the lead to 22-19 with 7:46 to play in the half. The Hoyas responded with an 11-3 run over 3:55, taking a 33-22 lead on a 3-pointer from Freeman with 3:51 to play. A jumper from Monroe with two minutes to play extended the lead to 13 points, 35-22, as the sophomore connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field and scored 14 points with eight rebounds in the first half. One free throw from Jones, another from Howard and a tip-in from Rivas narrowed the gap to nine points, 35-26, at the break.

Monroe scored 21 points, connecting on 9-of-14 shots from the floor, and grabbed eight rebounds with three blocks, while Freeman finished with 21 points, hitting 7-of-11 from the field. Wright finished with eight points and five assists, while Clark added seven points and six rebounds and Vaughn had five points and six boards.

Georgetown closes out a three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 6, hosting BIG EAST rival Villanova at Verizon Center. Tipoff is slated for noon at The Phonebooth. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Dave Pasch and Doris Burke calling the action. Rich Chvotkin's radio call can be heard on ESPN 980 AM.

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Players Mentioned

Greg Monroe

#10 Greg Monroe

Center
6' 11"
Freshman
Julian Vaughn

#22 Julian Vaughn

Forward
6' 9"
Sophomore
Austin Freeman

#15 Austin Freeman

Guard
6' 4"
Freshman
Chris Wright

#4 Chris Wright

Guard
6' 1"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Greg Monroe

#10 Greg Monroe

6' 11"
Freshman
Center
Julian Vaughn

#22 Julian Vaughn

6' 9"
Sophomore
Forward
Austin Freeman

#15 Austin Freeman

6' 4"
Freshman
Guard
Chris Wright

#4 Chris Wright

6' 1"
Freshman
Guard