Nov. 28, 2011
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Georgetown 81, IUPUI 58 
WASHINGTON - Georgetown overcame a sluggish first half and used a 10-0 spurt to start the second half as junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and sophomore forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Marks) adding eight points, a career-high 14 rebounds and five assists en route to an 81-58 win over IUPUI in front of 6,854 fans at Verizon Center Monday night.
It was the third-straight win for the Hoyas, who improve to 5-1 overall, while the Jaguars fall to 2-5.
Thompson hit 9-of-15 shots from the floor and grabbed 10 boards for his second career double-double to lead the Hoyas, while senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph's) added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists and sophomore guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) added 13 points and four assists.
The Hoyas led by only one point, 32-31, after a sluggish first half, but pushed the lead to double digits before the first media timeout of the second half with a 10-0 run over the opening 3:55. Senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell), who was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, hit a pair of free throws to make it 34-31 and a jumper from Starks made it 36-31. Lubick followed with a layup and a big dunk to make it 40-31 and a Starks layup at 16:05 pushed the lead to 42-31.
IUPUI's first basket of the second half came on a layup from Lyonell Gaines with 15:38 to play in the game, making it 42-33. Clark hit a layup - and scored his 1,000th career point in the process - to push the lead back to 11 points, 44-33. A conventional three-point play from Thompson with 14:50 to play made it 47-35, but a 9-4 spurt by IUPUI pulled the Jaguars to within seven points, 51-44, on free throws from Marcellus Barksdale with 12:28 to play.
Georgetown responded with a 16-4 run over 8:09 and took a 19-point lead, 67-48, on a jumper from freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) with 4:19 to play in the half. The lead grew to 20 points, 69-49, on free throws from Clark, and the Hoyas held their biggest lead, 24 points, 76-52, on a three-point play from Starks with 1:33 left.
It was a sluggish first half for Georgetown, as the Hoyas hit only 40.6 percent of their shots and led by one point, 32-31, after an impressive 20 minutes from IUPUI senior guard Alex Young, who scored 16 points.
The Jaguars jumped out to an early 7-3 lead after two free throws, a layup and a three-pointer from Young. The Hoyas did not hit their first field goal until the 17:16 mark, a layup from Starks. IUPUI held a three-point lead, 22-19 on a jumper from Mitchell Patton with 8:45 to play and still led by three, 26-23, on a jumper from Young with 4:11 to play.
Georgetown, however, clamped down defensively in the closing minutes as the Jaguars hit only three of their last nine field goals in the final seven minutes as the Hoyas took their first lead of the game, 23-22, on a jumper from Sims with 5:43 to play in the half.
Trailing by three, Georgetown used a 9-3 spurt over 4:55 and took a 32-29 lead on a jumper from Thompson with 48 seconds left in the half.
Georgetown shot 49.3 percent from the floor (33-of-67), hit 27.8 percent of its three-pointers (5-of-18) and was 76.9 percent from the free throw line (10-of-13). GU held a 43-36 advantage on the glass, handed out 20 assists and committed only seven turnovers. Porter finished with six points, seven rebounds and four assists, while freshman forward Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) added seven points.
The Hoyas hit the road for a matchup on Thursday, Dec. 1 at No. 15 Alabama. Tipoff is Tuscaloosa, Ala. in the BIG EAST/SEC Challenge is slated for 9:30 p.m. (ET). The game will be shown live on ESPN2 with Mike Breen and Fran Fraschilla callilng all of the action. Fans can tune in locally to Rich Chvotkin on ESPN 980 AM.
