Second Half Run Helps Hoyas Ride Over the Wave in Opener

NEW ORLEANS — It was not the greatest performance, but for a season opener on the road, Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III was satisfied with the 74-58 victory.

“It’s one game,” Thompson said. “I’m extremely happy with a win over a quality opponent and a well-coached team. I’m extremely happy with how we played. That being said, we have a long way to go.”

After a sloppy first half that featured nine turnovers by the Hoyas, Georgetown found its rhythm in the second half, using a 19-8 run to put Tulane away at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans.

Sophomore center Greg Monroe, returning home to Louisiana where he grew up, had 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, much to the enjoyment of a large contingent of family and friends.

“I knew coming in we’d have good fan support,” Monroe said of the blue and gray amid the Green Wave in the stands. “It was everything I expected”

Georgetown jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first five minutes of play, keyed by the sharp shooting of juniors Austin Freeman and Julian Vaughn. Getting the first start of his Georgetown career, Vaughn proved he deserved his place in the lineup, scoring seven points on 3-of-5 shooting in the first half with five rebounds, four of which were on the offensive glass.

After a time out, the Green Wave rebounded for the final 15 minutes of the second half, using Georgetown’s nine turnovers in the half to narrow the deficit to three points at 30-27 with 1:28 to go in the half.

“We did go through a point there where coming into [the second] half they were in a rhythm, a flow,” Thompson said. “They had gotten looks that were more open than we wanted them to be.”

Sophomore guard Jason Clark, who made his first career start, got things going for the Hoyas in the second half, hitting a three-pointer on the Hoyas' first possession to extend the lead to 35-27. Clark had a career-high 13 points in the contest, adding five assists.

“I think our guys did a terrific job in the second half of being business, like with in our approach of, 'Let's get stops, let's get good baskets,'” Thompson said.

The Hoyas had 11 assists on 16 field goals in the second half, and only six turnovers compared to nine giveaways against six assists in the first half.

After Clark’s trey, the Hoyas would go on a 19-8 run over the next 5:30, highlighted by both a technical foul on senior forward Asim McQueen and an emphatic dunk by Freeman minutes later. McQueen took a pass from junior forward David Booker with 15:20 to go in the half and drove down the middle of the lane slamming it home and igniting the crowd.

The officials, however, felt he hung from the rim too long and charged McQueen with a technical with the score at 41-33. Freeman hit both free throws following the technical, and after back-to-back layups by Monroe and junior guard Chris Wright, Freeman took a lob pass in transition and threw it down to extend the lead to 49-35.

Thompson said he was pleased with Freeman, who ended the night with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

“I thought Austin was terrific tonight,” Thompson said. “His line was 16 [points], six [rebounds] and five assists. That’s pretty good. He played the whole game, and I thought he did a pretty decent job at the defensive end. ... We’re going to need Austin to do that. He has the ability and the aptitude to do a lot of different things. His scoring is going to be there, but he can get those assists [and] those rebounds. He’s one of those guys on the team who I look at to help make the other guys better.”

The Hoyas had four players reach double figures in the contest, while Vaughn and frontcourt mate Henry Sims, a sophomore forward, each had seven points in the game.

Using a mixture of man-to-man and matchup zone, the Hoyas' defense held the Green Wave to 40.8 percent shooting from the floor, limiting standout guard Kevin Sims to just three points in the contest.

“To come in here and have Sims have the night he had tonight with only three points, the stars had to be aligned properly for our guys because he’s a terrific player,” Thompson said. “We’re fortunate he had an off night, but I think our guys did a good job, particularly Jason, on him.”

The Hoyas, shooting 61.5 percent from the field in the second half, shot 52.8 percent for the game and were 7-of-17 from behind the arc for 41.2 percent.

“It’s the first game, but there are definitely a lot of things you want to work on,” Vaughn said. “They had a lot of open threes. Defensively we can get better, we have to get better."

Next up for the Hoyas is their home opener, as they play host to the Owls on Tuesday at Verizon Center. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m., and the game will be part of ESPN’s 24 Hours of College Basketball coverage.

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