Game Preview

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's basketball team will return back to action on Saturday, Dec. 20, hosting Charlotte in the team's final non-league home game before the start of BIG EAST Conference play. Tipoff at Verizon Center is slated for noon.

The game will be shown live on Fox Sports Network, with Brian Custer calling the play-by-play and Tarik Turner serving as the color analyst. The GU game can be seen in a wide variety of markets on Saturday, and locally on MASN2. It will also be available on the YES Network, Cox Sports Northeast, Root Sports (Northwest and Pittsburgh) and 10 Fox Sports outlets (Arizona, Detroit, Florida, Midwest, North, Ohio, Oklahoma, South, Southwest and Wisconsin). Fans locally can tune in to Sports Talk AM 570 for the radio call of Rich Chvotkin.

The Hoyas are playing their first game in a week, and the fourth in a four-game home stand. It will be the team's first game since a 76-49 win over Radford last Saturday. The win, the second in a row and the third in the last four games, improved Georgetown's record to 6-3 overall.

Senior guard Aaron Bowen (Jacksonville, Fla./QEA [N.C.]) scored a career-high 16 points, with 10 points in the second half, as 11 different players scored in the win over Radford last week. Bowen, who hit 8-of-9 shots from the floor and ranks second in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, connecting on 67.5 percent of his shots from the field, is averaging 6.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game. He is one of eight Hoyas averaging at least 4.9 points per game and one of nine players appearing for at least 12 minutes per game.

Junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central/Oak Hill) leads the team in scoring and assists, averaging 13.3 points and 3.8 assists. Smith-Rivera, who is also third on the team with 4.3 rebounds, ranks tied for 11th in the BIG EAST in scoring and tied for sixth in the league in assists.

Senior center Joshua Smith (Kent, Wash./Kentwood/UCLA) is second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. Smith ranks 11th in the BIG EAST in rebounding and is fourth in the league in field goal percentage, hitting 64.8 percent of his shots from the field.

Freshman forward L.J. Peak (Gaffney, S.C./Gaffney), who scored 18 points in a loss to No. 10 Kansas last week, is third on the team in scoring with 9.3 points per game. Freshman forward Paul White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), who has scored in double figures in four-straight games and five of the last six overall, is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.1 points per game, while grabbing 2.9 rebounds.

Senior guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) is averaging 6.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 assists per game, while freshman forward Isaac Copeland (Raleigh, N.C./Brewster Academy [N.H.]) is contributing 5.3 points and 1.4 rebounds and senior forward Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) is scoring 4.9 points and leads the team in rebounds (6.9 rpg) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg).

Charlotte enters the game with a 6-4 record following a 75-65 win over Appalachian State on Thursday night. Sophomore guard Braxton Ogbueze leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game and is one four players scoring in double figures for the 49ers, joined by freshman guard Torin Dorn (11.4 ppg), senior guard Pierria Henry (11.0 ppg) and junior center Mike Thorne (10.8 ppg). Henry leads the team with 5.7 assists and is second on the team with 6.4 rebounds, while Thorne leads the team with 7.7 rebounds per game.

The game against Charlotte on Saturday will also feature Mascot Mayhem, as the athletics department welcomes mascots from all over the D.C. Metro area. Mascots from the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles are all expected to be in attendance.