Hoyas have no trouble in running of the Bulls It was a welcome chance to cruise before a daunting trip to ‘Cuse.
Unfazed by a slow start befitting two of the Big East’s stingiest teams — and an 11 a.m. tipoff — No.?14 Georgetown found its offensive rhythm after halftime and left South Florida behind in a 75-45 win Saturday in front of 11,916 at Verizon Center.
The victory was the biggest for the Hoyas (18-4, 8-3 Big East) since a 74-42 win at St. John’s in January 2008 and moved them into a tie for second place in the Big East. They will visit first-place and second-ranked Syracuse on Wednesday.
Led by 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists from Henry Sims, the Hoyas finished with five players in double figures for the first time in two years after shooting 65 percent in the second half. Meanwhile, the Bulls (13-10, 6-4), the lowest scoring team in the conference, failed to reach 50 points for the sixth time this season.
But both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in the first half, combining for just 38 points, in part a product of being the conference’s top two teams in scoring defense.
“We felt we were getting stops, and we knew the shots were going to start going in,” Hoyas coach John Thompson III said, reflecting on how Georgetown had a 23-15 halftime lead despite a 9:29 stretch without a field goal. “I think they had 15 points at halftime, and probably half of those we gave them.”
But South Florida gave away even more, piling up 11 turnovers and going scoreless for a nearly 11 minutes in the first half. At one point, the Bulls had nine consecutive possessions that ended with the ball back in Georgetown’s hands courtesy of self-inflicted wounds, including the first six turnovers by six different players. Only one came on a Hoyas steal.
“It’s been our recipe for lack of success,” Bulls coach Stan Heath said.
The only South Florida starter without at least three turnovers Saturday was Clinton native Augustus Gilchrist (15 points).
At the other end of the floor, Georgetown was crisp in spite of missed shots. Perfect execution freed Jason Clark (11 points) for back-to-back layups and Otto Porter (12 points) converged for a putback during a 14-0 run that put the Hoyas in front and gave them a double-digit advantage at 18-5.
Anthony Collins darted inside for a layup to cut the lead to eight just before the halftime buzzer, but the Hoyas put the game away with a 16-4 run to start the second half, a stretch in which the most controversial moment was a technical foul called on Nate Lubick when he hung on the rim too long on a fast-break dunk.
Markel Starks scored seven of his 10 points and Jabril Trawick added all 10 of his points after halftime.
“[The Hoyas] were more talented last year,” Heath said. “They’re a much better team this year.”
