Rubbermatch with Johnnies today

This is a press release.

No. 12 Georgetown Returns Home for Sunday Matinee with St. John's

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's basketball team returns home on Sunday, Feb. 12 hosting long-time BIG EAST Conference rival St. John's at Verizon Center. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla calling all of the action. Locally, fans can tune in to ESPN 980 AM for the radio call from Rich Chvotkin.

The Hoyas, ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' poll, are coming off a 64-61 overtime loss at No. 2 Syracuse on Wednesday night. Georgetown, winners of five of their last seven games overall, is 18-5 overall and 8-4 in the BIG EAST.

The game St. John's will be the 97th meeting all-time between the schools. SJU leads the head-to-head series, 53-43, but the Hoyas have won eight of the last 11 meetings between the teams. The Blue & Gray posted a 69-49 win last month at Madison Square Garden. GU has won the last six games in the series at home.

Georgetown is one of only five teams nationally with at least four wins over top-25 teams, beating then No. 8 Memphis in the Maui Invitational, winning at then-No. 12 Alabama, beating then-No. 4 Louisville on the road and posting a win over 20th-ranked Marquette last month. The Hoyas are ranked No. 13 in the latest RPI ratings from warrennolan.com and No. 9 according to strength of schedule.

Senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell) leads the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game and is shooting 50.4 percent from the floor, ranking 16th and 8th in the BIG EAST, respectively, in those categories. Clark, who has scored in double figures 18 times this season, is averaging 14.4 points and shooting 53.8 percent from the floor against conference opponents.

Junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) is second on the team in scoring with 13.6 points, third with 5.3 rebounds and is second on the team in field goal percentage (50.2%). Thompson, who has reached double figures in scoring 19 times this season, has connected on a team-high 46 three-point field goals and leads the BIG EAST in three-point percentage (47.9%).

Senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph), who entered the season with three games in double figures in scoring in 88 career games, has reached double figures 15 times this season. He had a streak of five-straight games in double figures end in the loss at Syracuse, but in the last six games is averaging 11.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Overall this season, he is third on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg), second in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and leads the team in assists (3.57 apg). Sims is the only player in the BIG EAST in the top-15 in assists and blocks.

Freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.7 points per game and leads the team with 6.9 rebounds, which ranks 12th in the BIG EAST. Among all BIG EAST freshmen, Porter is 12th in scoring and fifth in rebounding. In league games, he averages 9.0 points and 7.8 rebounds. Against Syracuse, Porter recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) is fifth on the team in scoring with 8.0 points per game and is shooting 44.1 percent from the floor, while classmate forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Marks) is averaging 3.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and is second on the team with 2.0 assists per game.

St. John's enters today's game with a 10-14 overall record and a 4-8 mark in the BIG EAST. The Red Storm have lost their last two games, including a 76-54 decision to Cincinnati at home. Freshman guard D'Angelo Harrison leads the team in scoring with 16.6 points per game. Freshman forward Moe Harkless is second on the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds. Freshman forward God's Gift Achiuwa is third on the team with 10.3 points and second with 6.1 rebounds, while freshman guard Sir'Dominic Pointer is averaging 6.4 points per game.