Hoyas overcome poor offensive showing for 10th straight victory Georgetown overcame its worst shooting performance of the season and a dismal second half against visiting Providence to extend its winning streak to double figures with a 49-40 victory over the Friars in front of 11,384 at Verizon Center.
The Hoyas shot just 30.0 percent from the field, their lowest since shooting 25 percent in a home loss to Cincinnati last season.
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Henry Sims epitomized the offensive woes, missing 11 of his 13 attempts from the field, but he made up for it with a 7-for-9 performance at the line on the way to 11 points. Sims also added seven rebounds and four blocks for the Hoyas (12-1, 2-0 Big East), who won their 10th game in a row.
The Friars (11-4, 0-2) fell to their longtime conference rivals for the sixth time in a row and extended their winless streak on the road against ranked opponents to 23 games since 2004.
After Georgetown led by 14 points in the first half, Providence tied the game for the first time since the opening minutes when LaDontae Henton’s free throw with 8:03 remaining made it 35-35. Henton (13 points) then hit a fast-break layup to bring the visitors within 41-40 before the Hoyas reeled off the game’s final eight points, the last by Jason Clark (16 points) on a 3-point play with 24.1 seconds remaining.
Markel Starks, who scored a career-high 20 points in Georgetown’s midweek win at No. 4 Louisville, attempted his just three shots but made a crucial bucket in the lane late, and freshman Otto Porter added 12 rebounds off the bench.
After finishing with no rebounds against Louisville on Wednesday — his first game without a board since New Year’s Day of last year — Nate Lubick (four points, four rebounds, two blocks) made his presence felt in the first half.
Backing down into the right block, Lubick sent his defender into the air with a pump fake and easily could have drawn a foul. Instead, he spun away to his left, peeling free for an easy layup. At the other end of the floor, Lubick took a charge in a lane, rejected a shot by Kadeem Batts and sprawled onto the hardwood for a loose ball.
Clark provided a dose of toughness inside, finishing a fearless drive inside to give the Hoyas their first points and later following his own miss twice before converting on his third try in the lane.
The Friars came into the afternoon with four starters averaging 13 points or more. But the openings were few and far between after Batts scored the game’s opening bucket. Providence missed 14 of its next 15 shots, and nearly nine minutes elapsed between putbacks by Henton and Brice Kofane, with the latter making the score 17-6 with 8:48 remaining in the first half. The Friars went into halftime with just six field goals but used free throws for a 9-2 run to cut Georgetown’s lead to 27-19. The Hoyas in turn hit only eight field goals in the second half.
