Area college previews » Georgetown, GW, Maryland

There’s never been any doubt that the Hoyas (5-1) and Tigers (5-1) could take it to the little guys. But have the lopsided victories prepared them for what’s in store when they face each other?

“I think the guys know the difference between this team and the team we play Saturday,” said Hoyas junior forward DaJuan Summers after Monday’s 62-point victory, which followed 27- and 24-point wins over American and Maryland, respectively. “I can’t say there’s any negative side to us playing so well.”

Raising their game to the next level, however, will be a challenge. Last season, the Hoyas followed up a 110-point, 50-percent three-point shooting performance against Radford with 71 points that included 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) shooting from behind the arc in a road loss to Memphis.

This year’s Tigers are similarly stifling on defense, ranked sixth in the nation in blocks (7.3 per game) and steals (11.3 per game) and tenth in turnover margin (plus 6.7). Led by freshman sensation Tyreke Evans (16.2 points per game), Memphis is capable of putting up huge numbers.

The Hoyas are drawing lessons from their lone loss against a Tennessee squad that scored at will in the second half.

“We pride ourselves in defense, forcing people to take tough, contested shots — forcing people to miss tough, contested shots,” said Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. “But teams are going to make runs. When that happens, we have to make sure and execute at the other end.”

Thompson was encouraged by the Hoyas’ offensive discipline against Savannah State, scoring into triple figures with only seven 3-pointers from 15 attempts.

“I think guys on the team know, like Coach always says, that it’s about us,” said Summers. “I think we’ve bought into that so guys know no matter who the opposing team is, we need to do things the way we do them.”