WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's basketball team is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 14, hosting Liberty University in a regional round game of the Legends Classic. Tipoff at Verizon Center is slated for 7 p.m.
The
game will be shown live on MASN, with Jason Knapp and Mark Tillmon
calling all of the action. Locally, fans can tune in for the radio call
of Rich Chvotkin on ESPN 980 AM.
The Hoyas played their season opener on Sunday, beating Duquesne, 61-55, in the first game of the Washington round of the Legends Classic.
Freshman guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./Oak Hill) scored a game-high 19 points, while sophomore forward Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) added eight points and a career-high 15 rebounds and sophomore center Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) scored a career-high 13 points and added four rebounds.
Junior guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep),
who started 25 games last year and was fifth on the team in scoring
with 7.1 points per game, scored nine points and had two steals on Wednesday night.
Junior forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Marks), who has started the last 47 games on the Hilltop, had seven points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Smith-Rivera,
who hit 6-of-7 shots from the floor and all four of his three-point
field goal attempts, had as impressive a debut as any recent Georgetown
freshman. His 19 points were the most for a freshman in their first
game on campus since Mike Sweetney scored 19 points against
Bethune-Cookman during the 2000-01 season. Allen Iverson also scored 19
points in his first game at Georgetown.
Whittington's 15 rebounds in the game on Sunday matched the individual season-high from the 2011-12 season, first set by forward Otto Porter Jr. (Morley, Mo./Scott County Central) with 15 in a win at DePaul and then by Henry Sims (C'12), who had 15 against Cincinnati in the BIG EAST Tournament.
After
hitting only 37.0 percent of their first half field goals (10-of-27),
Georgetown connected on 45.8 percent in the second half (11-of-24) to
finish at 41.2 percent for the game (21-of-51). The Hoyas limited
Duquesne to 35.6 percent (21-of-59) shooting for the game.
Porter,
Jr., a Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team selection and Associated Press
honorable mention All-American selection, played only six minutes after
being injured in the first half.
The game on Wednesday
night will be the first all-time between Georgetown and Liberty, who
plays in the Big South Conference. The Hoyas have an all-time record of
12-0 against teams from the Big South, the last wins coming during the
2010-11 season with wins over UNC Asheville and Coastal Carolina.
Liberty enters the game on Wednesday
with an 0-2 record following losses to Richmond (84-42) and William
& Mary (71-59). Junior guard Davon Marshall leads the team in
scoring with 12.0 points per game, while senior guard Tavares Sepaks is
averaging 8.5 points per game.
Following
Wednesday night's game, Georgetown travels to New York City, where the
Hoyas will play in the championship rounds of the Legends Classic at the
brand-new Barclay's Center in Brooklyn. The team opens the
championship round on Monday, Nov. 19 against UCLA (8 p.m., ESPN2). GU would then play either Georgia or Indiana on Tuesday, Nov. 20 (7:30 or 10 p.m.).
