March 13, 2008

Box Score

Complete Boxscore in PDF Format

New York, N.Y. - Top-seeded Georgetown set a school record and a BIG EAST Tournament record with 17 three-point field goals, junior guard Jessie Sapp (New York, N.Y./National Christian Academy [Md.[) scored a career-high 23 points to lead three players in double figures as the Hoyas pulled away from Villanova for an 82-63 win in front of 19,562 during the BIG EAST Tournament Quaterfinals at Madison Square Garden.

It was the sixth-straight win and the 13th in the last 15 games for the Hoyas, who improve to 26-4 overall and advance to the BIG EAST Semifinals for the third-straight year. Georgetown is now 13-0 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament play when the team is the No. 1 seed.

Georgetown led by 11 points (40-29), but the Wildcats used an 11-0 run over the first four-plus minutes of the second half and worked a tie at 40-all on a conventional three-point play from Dwayne Anderson. Villanova was aided by the absence of Georgetown center Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep), who had two fouls in the first half and picked up two fouls in the opening minutes of the second half. The teams traded three-point baskets, but two free throws from Dante Cunningham and a put-back basket from Antonio Pena gave Villanova its first lead of the game, 47-43, with just over 13 minutes left.

A three from Villanova's Corey Stokes gave the Wildcats a 50-48 lead, but Sapp hit a layup and the ensuing free throw to give the Hoyas a 51-50 lead. The Blue and Gray proceeded to go on a 22-8 run over the next 8:24 and pushed the lead to 15 points, 73-58, on a Sapp three-pointer with 3:40 to play. Sapp started the run with three-pointers sandwiched around a jumper from sophomore forward DaJuan Summers (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) - who scored 19 points - as the lead was pushed back to 59-50. After a basket from Antonio Pena cut the Hoya lead to 59-52, freshman guard Austin Freeman (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha) hit a three from the corner and the Hoyas lead was 62-52. Summers hit two more three-pointers during the run and Sapp closed it out as the Hoyas held on for the win.

The Hoyas, who hit 10 three-pointers in the first half, connected on seven more in the second half - with Sapp knocking down a career-high 6-of-9 shots and senior guard Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) hitting 5-of-6 shots - to finish the game 17-of-28.

The Hoyas came out on fire in the first half, hitting four of their first five shots - all from three-point land - and took a 12-4 lead on the third trey from Wallace. Villanova used back-to-back three-pointers from Corey Stokes and Reynolds to pull within four points, 14-10, but the Hoyas went long along. Three-straight three-pointers, including two from junior guard Jessie Sapp (New York, N.Y./National Christian Academy [Md.]), extended Georgetown's lead to 23-12 with 11:00 to play on a shot from Wallace.

Georgetown took its biggest lead of the half, 37-23, on a Sapp three-pointer with 2:57 to play in the half. GU shot 53.6 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 58.8 percent of its three-pointers (10-of-17).

Sapp scored 23 points and handed out four assists, while Wallace added 20 points and Summers finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three steals.. Freeman added seven points and a team-high five assists, while senior forward Patrick Ewing, Jr. (Marietta, Ga./National Christian Academy [Md.]) added seven points, with game-high's in rebounds (9) and assists (7). Hibbert was held scoreless for the first time since his sophomore season - January 17, 2006 against South Florida - and only the 10th time in his career.

The Hoyas shot 54.9 percent from the floor (28-of-51) and were 60.7 percent from three-point land (17-of-28) and 69.2 percent from the free throw line (9-of-13).