Hoyas blast Golden Panthers

December 28, 2013 - After the debacle that was Georgetown's 22 point loss at Kansas last weekend, the Hoyas were itching to get in the win column, with a BIG EAST start this upcoming Tuesday also looming.

John Thompson III's team stepped up to the challenge, blasting visiting Florida International 92-57 before 7,824 at Verizon Center this afternoon.

One word comes to mind in summing G'Town's performance; execution.

"Just looking at the stat sheet, it was spread out" first said senior point guard Markel Starks afterward of his team's offensive performance, one in which three players including himself scored 15 points, a trio of others logged eight, and only one Hoya didn't score. Starks continued, noting "We had a talk when we got back from Kansas. I think we executed that today. When you have guys giving you effort offensively and defensively, more importantly defensively, I think it stands out".

FIU was held to 41.3% from the game, more impressively 25% in the first half - the Panthers this year have shot at a 45.1% clip. The Hoyas finished at a lofty 60.7% from the field, 35.7% on three pointers (despite going just 1-6 beyond the arc in second half action).

"It wasn't much of a game" opened FIU's head coach Anthony Evans . "Georgetown dominated from the very start. We didn't play good defense, we didn't have good energy, and they did what they were supposed to".

The Hoyas blew this game open with a 22-0 run starting at the first half's 17:15 mark, ending over 10 minutes later and the scoreboard reading 30-4. They would finish the period outscoring FIU 20-10.

"Without a doubt, I think we came out extremely focused" said Thompson of his team's initial stanza play. "This is one of the few games you go into halftime, and there are few things negative you can say. I thought we had a very good first half, at both ends of the court".

Joining Starks with 15 points were senior forward Nate Lubick and sophomore guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. The trio scored seven, nine and seven points apiece respectively, in the first half.

Lubick also paced the Hoyas in rebounding, along with junior forward Mikael Hopkins, with six caroms each. G'Town finished with an 11 rebound advantage.

Hopkins also scored seven points, while junior guard Jabril Trawick, classmate Joshua Smith - a center - and freshman forward Reggie Cameron all tallied eight points.

FIU, beginning the game with three starters - Tymell Murphy, Rakeem Buckles and freshman guard Jason Boswell - on the pine due to what Evans labeled a "Coach's decision" - had three players in double figures scoring; junior guard Dennis Mavin led the game at 16 points. Buckles, a senior forward scored 15 points and grabbed six boards, while Murphy, a forward in his last year, equaled Buckles' contribution.

Georgetown (8-2) welcomes DePaul on December 31st at 5p, both team's BIG EAST opener. Click here for tickets.

FIU is off until January 2nd, when they travel to Tallahassee, Florida to tangle with Florida A&M, a 7p tip-off.

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