Make it eight in a row

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Smith-Rivera Scores 33 Points, No. 11 Georgetown Races Past DePaul, 90-66

WASHINGTON - Freshman guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./Oak Hill) scored a career-high 33 points and led four players in double figures as No. 11 Georgetown connected on 63.5 percent of its shots from the field en route to a 90-66 win over DePaul in front of 9,987 at Verizon Center Wednesday night.

It was the eighth-straight win for the Hoyas, who improved to 20-4 overall and 10-3 in the BIG EAST and are tied for first place with Syracuse and Marquette. The eight-game win streak is the longest current streak in the BIG EAST and the longest for the Hoyas against league opponents since winning 10 in a row during the 2006-07 season.

Smith-Rivera's 33 points are the most for a freshman under Head Coach John Thompson III and the most by a Hoya freshman since Victor Page scored 34 points against Villanova on March 8, 1996 in the BIG EAST Tournament. It was the eighth 30-point game under JT3 and tied for the second-highest individual game under JT3 with Austin Freeman, who scored 33 against Connecticut on Jan. 8, 2010.

Smith-Rivera scored 21 of his 33 points in the second half and hit 10-of-12 shots overall, including 5-of-6 from three-point land and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

Junior forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Marks) added 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds and three assists, while sophomore guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) scored 13 points with three rebounds, two blocks and two steals and sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr. (Morley, Mo./Scott County Central) chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 20 minutes of action. Junior guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) scored eight points, grabbed four boards and tied his career-high with seven assists.

The Hoyas led by 14 points and maintained that lead through the opening minutes of the second half with free throws from Smith-Rivera making it 49-35. The freshman scored the next eight points himself - hitting a layup and back-to-back three-pointers - as Georgetown went on a 15-5 run over 4:15 and took a 64-40 lead on a Lubick layup with 13:03 to play.

DePaul scored 10 of the next 13 points and pulled to within 67-50 on a jumper from Brandon Young, but a 9-2 run over 3:54, with sophomore center Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) hitting two jumpers and Smith-Rivera a three, was capped with a Lubick layup, making it 76-52 with 6:06 to play.

Georgetown jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead, 43-29, after connecting on 61.5 percent of their shots from the field, with Smith-Rivera (12) and Trawick (10) leading the way.

DePaul had jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the opening three-plus minutes on a layup from Cleveland Melvin. The Hoyas had hit only one of their first five shots, but would heat up as the half moved along. Three-pointers from Trawick, Smith-Rivera and Starks were part of an 11-4 spurt that gave GU a 13-11 lead on a three from Starks at the 12:11 mark.

The lead was three points, 17-14, after free throws from Brandon Young and 28-25 after Durrell McDonald hit a three with 5:59 to left in the half, but Georgetown used a 9-2 run over 2:57 and extended the lead to 10 points, 37-27, on a jumper from Smith-Rivera at the 3:02 mark. A layup from Smith-Rivera with 44 seconds left in the half gave GU the 14-point lead.

Georgetown is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 23, visiting Syracuse in a BIG EAST Conference game at the Carrier Dome. Tipoff at the Carrier Dome is slated for 4 p.m. The game will be shown live on CBS, with Tim Brando and Bill Raftery calling all of the action. It can be heard locally on ESPN 980 AM.