Published: February 01, 2007
NEW YORK
Georgetown used a 19-0 run that spanned the first and second
halves to overcome a halftime deficit and defeat St. John's, 72-48,
at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Jeff Green led the
Hoyas with a game-high 24 points as they won their fifth straight
game, while Avery Patterson paced the Red Storm with 16 points,
eight rebounds and four 3-pointers.
With the loss, St. John's fell to 12-10 on the season, 3-6 in
the BIG EAST Conference, while Georgetown improved to 16-5 and 6-2
in league action.
"Georgetown really played well in the second half and shot the
ball well," head coach Norm Roberts said. "We didn't do a good job
of guarding and we got off to a bad start. Lamont got into foul
trouble and that hurt our inside game. We relied too much on jump
shots, and we didn't do a good job on the glass."
Patterson and the Red Storm got off to a hot start, as the
junior hit a 3 at the 16:23 mark of the first period to give St.
John's a 9-6 lead it would protect for the entire first half.
Patterson knocked down another 3 and assisted on a basket by
Anthony Mason Jr. to stretch the Red Storm lead to six with 14:26
to play.
The lead would grow to as many as 10 (26-16) with 4:07 remaining
until the Hoyas went on an 11-2 run to close to within a point at
28-27.
Georgetown stormed out of the gates in the second half, going on
an 11-0 run to start behind six straight points from guard Jon
Wallace. A Jeff Green dunk with 9:39 remaining put the Hoyas on top
by 20 points, 55-35, as Georgetown shot 73.9 percent (17-of-23) in
the period – the highest field goal percentage in a single half in
three seasons under head coach John Thompson III.
Green led all scorers with his 24 points and added eight
rebounds, four assists and two steals. Wallace scored 13, while
Jessie Sapp added nine and Roy Hibbert eight.
Patterson knocked down four 3-pointers in scoring 16 points and
grabbing a game-high tying eight rebounds. Lamont Hamilton scored
nine points before fouling out with 8:39 remaining in the second
half, and Mason Jr. went for eight points, four assists, a blocked
shot and two steals.
St. John's returns to action on Sunday, traveling to Cincinnati
for a noon start. The Red Storm's next home contest comes in
Queens, as South Florida visits Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday, Feb.
7 at 7:30 p.m.