Five Hoyas score in double figures in victory over Red Storm
St. John’s decided it wasn’t going to get beaten by Georgetown twice in the same way.
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But while rattling Hollis Thompson and for the most part bottling up Jason Clark — who had combined for 35 points last month in New York — the Red Storm couldn’t contain the rest of the Hoyas, who used balance and composure to complete the sweep in a 71-61 victory in front of 12,285 at Verizon Center.
Led by a career-high 12 points from freshman Greg Whittington, Georgetown (19-5, 9-4 Big East) received at least nine points from six different players. The Hoyas’ seventh scorer, Nate Lubick, had seven points on a 3-for-3 shooting performance, but it was only one facet of his best conference game of the year. He finished with eight rebounds, five assists and a career-high four blocks.
“This group doesn’t get rattled,” Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. “This was a game that a group easily could get rattled because of their defense because you don’t know how you’re going to get your shots and also because early on we missed shots.”
The Hoyas never trailed despite shooting 39 percent in the first half, but the Red Storm (10-15, 4-9) were down only 31-26 at halftime and always in reach thanks to 24 points from D’Angelo Harrison and 20 from Moe Harkless.
Clark (11 points, six rebounds) then picked up three fouls in the first three minutes of the second half, and the unorthodox St. John’s defense trapped Hollis Thompson (10 points) and forced one of his three turnovers. Harkless later hit the first two of six straight at the line to cut Georgetown’s lead to 42-40, but Whittington answered with a smooth jumper. When it was 49-45, Whittington came through again to push the margin to six.
The Red Storm trimmed the Hoyas’ advantage to 51-48, and Whittington hit from beyond the arc for his first game with multiple 3-pointers since the season opener in November.
“I was just listening to the coaches,” Whittington said. “I had my feet ready to shoot, and I was ready to shoot, and it was going in.”
Shooting 61 percent in the second half, the Hoyas put the game away with a pair of mirror offensive possessions. Phil Greene hit a floater for St. John’s, and Markel Starks (11 points, four assists) did the same. Harrison knocked down the third of his five 3-pointers on the afternoon, and Clark answered with his only 3 of game, making the score 59-53 with 4:01 to play.
Lubick then rejected Harkless and had a key offensive rebound, leading to Clark’s three-point play and a 62-53 lead.
The victory helped the Hoyas keep sole possession of fourth place in the Big East. It also helped them move on from an overtime defeat at Syracuse that they were tired of being told would help them down the stretch.
“Coach mentioned to us before the game, talking about how people were still praising us after a loss,” Lubick said. “That’s something that we can’t look at. We needed to bounce back fast, and that’s how you do well in this league. To come back and grit out a big win was important.”
