December 29, 2007

Associated Press
Rivals.com College Basketball

WASHINGTON — What their fathers failed to do 25 years ago, Patrick Ewing Jr. and John Thompson III accomplished on Saturday: They beat pesky crosstown rival American.

As AU celebrated the anniversary of the greatest win in school history, Georgetown made sure there wouldn't be a repeat. The No. 8 Hoyas recovered from an early six-point deficit and shot 60 percent in a 78-51 win over the Eagles.

Roy Hibbert broke out of a scoring slump with 14 points yet somehow managed to grab only one rebound in 20 minutes, continuing a string of uneven early season performances from the 7-foot-2 preseason All-American. DaJuan Summers scored 16 points to lead the Hoyas (9-1), who bounced back from a 85-71 loss at No. 2 Memphis a week earlier.

Derrick Mercer scored 17 points, and Garrison Carr had 16 to lead American (7-6).

Before the game, American alumni and former players held a brunch to commemorate their 1982 shocker, a 62-61 over the Hoyas on Dec. 15, 1982. The Hoyas, coached by John Thompson and led by Ewing Sr., were ranked No. 5 at the time and would win the national championship the following season.

With Thompson III now the coach and Ewing Jr. in Georgetown's starting lineup, the Eagles had hope that they could pull the upset again. They were buoyed by their win a week earlier over Maryland - their first victory over the neighboring Terrapins in 80 years - and took a 19-13 lead over the Hoyas when guards Mercer and Carr started 5-for-5 from 3-point range.

Then the Hoyas turned the game around by doing the obvious: They stopped letting Mercer and Carr shoot. Unable to get an open look, the pair combined for only three points the rest of the half. Georgetown went on a 19-4 run, led 38-28 at halftime and doused any comeback hopes with an 8-3 spurt to open the second half.

With Georgetown mixing in a faster tempo into its offensive repertoire, Hibbert had failed to score in double figures in four of the last five games. This time, the Hoyas sought him out early - he opened the game with a layup, and he charged down the lane to take a pass from Chris Wright for a layup that tied the score at 19.

However, Hibbert had his worst rebounding game in nearly two years, getting his only board off the offensive glass with Hoyas leading by 20 late in the second half.

The Eagles had won four of five by getting solid contributions from players other than Mercer and Carr. They had no such help against the Hoyas. The pair accounted for 11 of the Eagles' 18 field goals and 65 percent of the team's points.

For more coverage of Georgetown, visit HoyaReport.com.