HOYA ATHLETICS

Feb. 9, 2010

Box Score |  AP Photo Gallery 

Complete Boxscore in PDF Format

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Junior guard Chris Wright (Bowie, Md./St. John's College HS) scored 21 points and sophomore center Greg Monroe (New Orleans, La./Helen Cox) added 12 points, a career-high 12 assists and seven rebounds as the No. 7-ranked Georgetown men's basketball team used a key second half run to pull away from Providence for a 79-70 win at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

The Hoyas, ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the third-straight week and remained at No. 8 in the country in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' poll, improve to 18-5 overall and 8-4 in the BIG EAST, while Providence falls to 12-12 overall and 4-8 in league play.

Monroe's 12 assists were the most for a Georgetown player since Kevin Braswell handed out 10 against Notre Dame on Feb. 9, 2002, eight years to the day.

Junior forward Julian Vaughn (Vienna, Va./Oak Hill Academy) finished with a career-high 19 points and junior guard Austin Freeman (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha) added 17 points as four GU players finished in double figures and the Hoyas hit 51.7 percent of their field goals and had 20 assists on 30 field goals.

Trailing by seven points, 47-40, the Hoyas used a 12-1 run over a span of 4:15 to take the lead for good, 52-48, on a layup from Vaughn with 10:56 to play. Free throws from Wright extended the lead to six points, but a 3-pointer from Sharaud Curry narrowed the gap to 54-51 with 9:06 to play.

The lead was down to two points, 56-54, after a free throw from Jamine Peterson, but the Hoyas would use an 8-2 run over 3:19 to extend the lead to eight points, 66-58, on a Monroe layup with 3:36 to play. After a dunk from Vaughn, off a feed from Freeman, made it 66-58 with 2:43 to play, the Friars again pulled to within five, 69-64, on a layup from Marshon Brooks, but a conventional three-point play from Monroe with 70 seconds left pushed the Hoya lead back to eight points, 72-64. Georgetown hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

The Hoyas trailed by two points, 33-31, at halftime and Providence used an 8-2 spurt over the first 1:16 to take a 41-33 lead on a 3-pointer from Brooks. A jumper from Vaughn and one from freshman guard Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) cut the lead to 43-40, but Curry hit a free throw and Peterson hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to seven points, 47-40, with 14:58.

Georgetown proceeded to use a 12-1 run over a span of 4:15 and took a 52-48 lead on a layup from Vaughn. The junior forward started the spurt with a basket, then Freeman hit a jumper and Monroe followed with a layup before a conventional three-point play from Wright gave the Hoyas a 49-48 advantage, their first since it was 29-28 with 3:38 left in the first half. Sophomore guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell) hit a free throw and Vaughn closed out the run with his layup.

The Hoyas had jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after a layup from Vaughn, but PC scored 6-straight points and took a 6-2 lead on a layup from Curry. Down 8-4 after a layup from Peterson, the Hoyas used a 10-1 run over 2:21 - with 3-pointers from Wright and Clark highlighting the stretch - and took a 14-9 lead on a layup from Vaughn with 14:24 to play.

A layup from Freeman gave Georgetown its biggest lead, 16-9, and the Hoyas led by seven again, 18-11, after another layup from the junior guard with 12:50 to play in the half. PC narrowed the lead to four points, but jumpers from Wright and Freeman pushed the lead back to seven points, 22-15, with 9:09 left. Providence, however, used a 7-0 run over 3:21 and tied the game at 22-all on a layup from Peterson with 5:48 to play.

Free throws from Monroe and a 3-pointer from Freeman pushed the Hoya lead back up to five points, 27-22, with 4:52 to play, but Providence would respond with an 11-2 run over 2:36 and took a 33-29 lead on free throws from Curry. Freeman's layup with 1:08 to play narrowed the lead to two points, 33-31, at halftime.

Wright hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor and was 6-of-8 from the line for 21 points, added four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Vaughn connected on 9-of-13 shots from the floor and added two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. Monroe was 4-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line, handed out 12 assists and had one block. Clark finished with six points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Thompson added four points and four rebounds.

The Hoyas hit 51.7 percent of their field goals (30-of-58), the 12th time this season the team has hit at least half of its field goals. Georgetown shot 27.3 percent from 3-point land (3-of-11) and hit 76.2 percent of its free throws (16-of-21).

Providence shot 34.4 percent from the floor (21-of-61) and hit 25.9 percent of its 3-pointers (7-of-27) and 63.6 percent of its free throws (21-of-33). The Friars held a 42-31 advantage on the boards.

Georgetown plays next on Sunday, Feb. 14, visiting Rutgers for a key BIG EAST Matchup. The game tips off at 4 p.m. at the Rutgers Athletic Center. It will be shown live on MASN and can be heard locally on ESPN 980 AM.