With Freeman sick, Notre Dame cruises past Georgetown
The special white-trimmed, silver uniforms and shoes that Georgetown wore in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Jordan Brand were a shade lighter than the Hoyas’ normal gray. But it was Austin Freeman who was pale.
Severely hampered by a virus, Georgetown’s leading scorer (20.2 points per game in the Big East) didn’t start and could barely find the basket Saturday, forcing the already thin Hoyas to essentially play a man down in a 78-64 loss to Notre Dame at Verizon Center.
The Fighting Irish (19-10, 8-8 Big East) were also without their star, forward Luke Harangody, the Big East’s leading scorer (24.1 ppg), who missed his fourth straight game with a bruised knee. But Carleton Scott (career-high 17 points, 9 rebounds) and Ben Hansbrough (21 points) picked up the slack and took turns carrying the visitors.
Hansbrough, the younger brother of former North Carolina All-American Tyler Hansbrough, blitzed Georgetown after the break, with a pair of tough finishes inside and a double dose from three-point range. The individual 10-3 run quickly pushed Notre Dame’s 31-27 halftime lead into double digits, and the Hoyas (19-8, 9-6) got no closer than four points down the stretch.
Freeman finished with five points, but his first shot was an airball 3-pointer that wasn’t even close. He also front-rimmed the first of his only two free throw attempts.
Greg Monroe led the Hoyas with 15 points, and Hollis Thompson and Jason Clark each had 12.
After the Fighting Irish hit their third 3-pointer for an 11-4 lead, they missed their next nine attempts from beyond the arc. But they also were utterly dominant on the boards, taking a 17-7 rebounding margin into halftime, including a 10-1 advantage on the offensive glass.
Scott hit two of Notre Dame’s first trio of 3-pointers, and the 6-foot-7 junior did even more damage inside, with a putback slam accounting for one seven rebounds and two of his 12 points in the first half.
