Jan. 27, 2012

WASHINGTON - The No. 9-ranked Georgetown University men's basketball (16-3, 6-2 BIG EAST) is back in action after a week off when the Hoyas play at Pittsburgh (12-9, 1-7 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Bob Wischusen and Stephen Bardo calling all of the action. Locally, fans can tune in to Rich Chvotkin's radio call on Sports Talk AM 570.

The Hoyas have won three-straight games, including a pair of league road wins, at St. John's and DePaul, and are ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' poll.

Saturday's game against Pittsburgh is the 75th all-time meeting between the programs. The Hoyas lead the head-to-head series, 40-34, and hold a 32-21 advantage since the start of BIG EAST play. The Hoyas are 14-20 on the road against Pittsburgh. The Panthers have won four of the last five meetings between the teams, including a 72-57 decision last year at Verizon Center. Georgetown won the last game at Pittsburgh, a 74-66 win during the 2009-10 season.

Senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell), who scored a career-high 31 points, on an impressive 11-for-14 shooting in an 83-75 win at DePaul, leads the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game, which ranks 14th in the BIG EAST. He is also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals (7th in the BIG EAST) and 1.7 assists per game, while shooting 50.2 percent from the floor.

Freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central), who had a career-high 15 rebounds in the Hoyas' victory over DePaul last week, is fifth on the team in scoring with 8.2 points per game and leads the team with 6.9 rebounds, which ranks 11th in the BIG EAST. Among all BIG EAST freshmen, Porter is 12th in scoring and fifth in rebounding.

Junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) has scored in double figures in 16 of the Hoyas' 19 games this season, eclipsing 20 points four times. In the Hoyas 69-49 victory at St. John's on Jan. 15, Thompson scored all 20 of his points in the second half, going 4-of-5 from three-point range. Thompson is second on the team in scoring and third in rebounding, averaging 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He leads the BIG EAST in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 50.6 percent of his shots from long distance.

Senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph), who had his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Rutgers, is third on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg), second in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and leads the team with 3.47 assists per game. He has scored in double figures 12 times this season.

Sophomore guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.4 points per game. Starks is shooting 48.2 percent from the floor and 39.7 percent from three-point land, which is the eighth best mark in the conference.

Pittsburgh enters the weekend with a 12-9 overall record and a 1-7 mark in BIG EAST play. The Panthers are coming off an 86-74 win over Providence on Wednesday night, their first conference win of the season, Pitt is 1-3 at home in conference play and 7-5 at home overall. Senior guard Ashton Gibbs leads the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game and has hit a team-high 51 three-pointers (34.5%). Senior forward Nasir Robinson is second on the team with 12.0 points per game and leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game. Junior guard Tray Woodall, who missed 11 games, started against Providence and scored 17 points and had nine assists. Sophomore guard Lamar Patterson is averaging 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds ... Pitt is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, has hit 34.5 percent of its three-pointers and is shooting 66.8 percent from the free throw line.