In a final breather before its grueling schedule picks up again, Georgetown cruised by an overmatched Loyola (Md.) team in a 99-75 victory in front of 11,745 at Verizon Center on Saturday. Fans had to go through heightened security measures due to President Barack Obama’s expected attendance at tonight’s Heat-Wizards game, but it was later announced that Obama had changed his plans.

The Hoyas used a scalding first half (78.3 percent from the field, 14-of-15 from inside the arc) and a suffocating defense to jump out to a 23-point lead at the break. After an alley-oop and an easy layup at the 12:50 mark, Loyola was held scoreless for a stretch that lasted nine and a half minutes.

“I was extremely nervous coming into this game just because of exams, having no practice or sporadic practice, without 100-percent attendance,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “Fortunately, they were going through the same thing. Coming in today I wasn’t sure how sharp we’d be, so it was good, particularly at the defensive end in the first half. I thought we did a very good job of making their shots tough, difficult, contested shots.”

“I thought they played well on defense and were scoring also,” Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos said. “We wanted to run and weren’t able to get cheap baskets like I like to get during a game. I thought they also handled our press well today. They were ready.”

After a week off for exams, 10 Hoyas found their way into the scoring column. Senior guard Austin Freeman and sophomore forward Hollis Thompson each notched 14 points, while junior center Henry Sims had perhaps his best offensive game with 12 points and five assists down low. Freshman forward Nate Lubick also continued to take steps forward with eight points and five assists.

“I’ve been hitting the books and it’s tough, but it’s just something we have to do,” said senior guard Chris Wright, who chipped in 11 points and three assists. “Regardless of exams, we still have to win games.”

The Greyhounds’ Justin Drummond was the only reason the game remained remotely close. Coming off the bench, Drummond scored 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, although 20 of those points came in the second half.

After holding the Greyhounds to just 27 first-half points, the Hoyas played much of the second half with their second and third units and lagged defensively in the second period. Even though many of the team’s lapses during the game occurred in garbage time, Thompson was unsatisfied with the way his team finished.

“I know in the second half we gave up a lot of threes because we were helping too much probably,” Thompson said. “I said this recently, our bigger guys have to do a better job of helping [our guards] on ball screens. We’re going to run into them all year against better competition each night. As a group, as a focal point, we have to get better at that. We’re getting better, but it has to continue to grow.”

In a rare development so far this season, the Hoyas were outrebounded, especially on the offensive glass where the Greyhounds won the battle 16-6. While the Hoyas were in control the entire afternoon, the game had very little flow to it thanks to 50 total fouls called. Georgetown went 21-of-31 from the line while Loyola shot 19-of-29.

Still, the Hoyas’ first-half defense is what they will take with them going forward.

“We played together on defense and had each other’s backs,” junior guard Jason Clark said. “Our rotations were good. Everybody was talking to each other and that helped us a lot to stop them from scoring. This was a good confidence-builder after being off for a while to have everyone come back and play well.”

The Hoyas have another short break before returning to the court for their final nonconference game against No. 19 Memphis on Dec. 23. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.