DSR and Hoyas get it done versus Domers

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Smith-Rivera Keys Decisive Second Half Run as Georgetown Beats Notre Dame, 63-47

South Bend, Ind. - In what was one of the best team performances since conference play started, sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr. (Morley, Mo./ Scott County Central) scored 19 points and had nine rebounds, seven different players scored and Georgetown used a big 18-0 run in the second half en route to a 63-47 win over No. 23 Notre Dame on Monday night at the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

It was the third win in the last four games for the Hoyas, who improved to 13-4 overall and 3-3 in BIG EAST Conference play, while Notre Dame falls to 15-4 overall and 3-3 in league play. Georgetown is only the second team to beat the Fighting Irish at home in the last 50 games as ND had won 47 of its previous 49 games.

Porter Jr. hit 7-of-10 shots from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point land, connecting for 12 points in the first half as the Hoyas opened up a 13-point lead at the break, saw it shrink to three points and then quieted the crowd, sending fans to the exits with six minutes left, with the decisive 18-0 run.

Freshman guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./Oak Hill) scored 14 points, including 10 in the second half, while junior forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass. / St. Mark's) added eight points, two rebounds and three assists and sophomore guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) added seven points, six rebounds and six assists. Junior guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists and junior center Moses Ayegba (Kano, Nigeria/Progressive Christian [Md.]) played a career-high 24 minutes, scored two points, had two assists and grabbed a career-high and game-high 10 rebounds.

The Hoyas had taken a 13-point lead (34-21) and pushed the lead to 15 points on a jumper from Lubick early in the second stanza. The Irish, however, took advantage of Georgetown foul trouble, with sophomore center Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) fouling out early in the second half, and caught fire, using a 16-4 run over 6:31 to pull to within 40-37 on a layup from Pat Connaughton with 12:03 left to play.

Georgetown, however, responded with an 18-0 run over a span of 6:47 and took a 58-37 lead when Trawick scored on a layup off a missed dunk from Ayegba. Smith-Rivera (8) and Porter (4) scored the first 12 points of the run, forcing Notre Dame to call a 30-second timeout when the former, a native of Indianapolis playing in front of many family and friends, hit a three-pointers to open a 50-37 lead.

The run continued as Porter and DSR hit jumpers and Trawick scored the final four points to give GU a 58-37 lead. Notre Dame went scoreless for 7:04 during the run and a layup from Jack Cooley made it 58-39, but Starks responded with a three-pointer to make it 61-39.

Georgetown came out strong in the first half, hitting 59.1 percent of its field goals (13-of-22) and used a 16-11 advantage on the boards to take a 13-point lead (34-21) at the break. Porter Jr. scored 12 points and had six rebounds as seven different GU players scored.

Notre Dame took an early 2-0 lead as the Hoyas missed their first two shots from the field, but they responded by hitting eight consecutive shots from the field. A jumper and a three-pointer from Porter at the 11:43 mark caused ND to call a 30-second time out and the Hoyas responded with jumpers from Smith-Rivera and Hopkins, pushing the lead to 21-8 with 10:21 left and forcing another timeout. A 13-4 run pulled Notre Dame to within 25-21, but the Hoyas responded by holding the Irish scoreless for the last 5:23 of the half and used a 9-0 run, capped by a running baseline jumper from Starks and opened a 34-21 lead at the break.

The Hoyas shot 53.3 percent from the floor (24-of-45), hit 46.7 percent of their three-pointers (7-of-15) and outrebounded ND 35-24. GU had 19 assists on 24 field goals and committed only nine turnovers.

Georgetown is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 26, hosting Louisville at Verizon Center. Tipoff is slated for noon. The game will be shown live on ESPN and can be heard locally on ESPN 980 AM.