UCLA goes down

This is a press release. Be sure to return, as HoyaReport.com will cover the Progressive Legends Classic's championship game - Georgetown vs. Indiana - tonight at 10p, EST. ESPN has the television broadcast. Rich Chvotkin can be heard with the radio call on 570 AM.

Starks, Porter, Jr. Lead Georgetown Past No. 13 UCLA, 78-70, in Legends Classic

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Sophomore guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) scored a career-high 23 points , and sophomore forward Otto Porter, Jr. (Morley, Mo./Scott County Central) recorded his fourth career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds as Georgetown used a run midway through the second half to pull away from No. 13 UCLA for a 78-70 win in a semifinal game of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.

It was the third-straight win to open the season for the Hoyas (3-0), while UCLA falls to 3-1. The Blue & Gray advance to the championship game of the Legends Classic and will play No. 1 Indiana on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale calling all of the action, and Andy Katz handling the sidelines. Locally, fans can tune in for the radio call of Rich Chvotkin on Sports Talk AM 570.

Starks hit 9-of-14 shots from the floor for a career-best points, leading four players in double figures. Porter, in his first full game of the season after missing a game following a hit sustained in the first game of the season, played 35 minutes, scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, had a team-best five assists five blocks and three steals. Sophomore forward Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) added 13 points, hitting three three-pointers, while kunior forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Marks) added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.

After opening up a 14-point lead early in the second half (43-29), UCLA cut the margin to four points midway through the second half, the last at 54-50 on a layup from Jordan Adams. Sparked by a three-pointer from Starks, the Hoyas went on a 12-4 run over 3:08 and widened the gap to 12 points, 66-54, on a jumper from Lubick with 6:17 left. The lead grew to 13 points, matching their biggest lead, on a jumper from sophomore center Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) (72-59) with 3:37 left and then on a Porter free throw (74-61) with 2:50 remaining.

UCLA pulled to within eight points (75-67) late, but the Hoyas hit 3-of-5 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.

Leading by two points, 31-29, at halftime, the Hoyas came out on fire in the second half, with a jumper from Porter and consecutive three-pointers from Whittington giving GU an 8-0 run over the first 1:43 as the lead grew to 39-29, forcing UCLA to call a timeout.

After the timeout, Starks stole the ball and raced in for a lineup and after a Porter defensive rebound, Starks fed Hopkins for a fast-break dunk, making it 43-29 at 17:44. UCLA scored its first basket of the half - a jumper from Josh Smith - 2:36 into the second half. The Bruins scored six-straight points to cut the lead to 43-35, but a three-pointer from Porter and a layup from Lubick pushed the GU lead back to 48-37 with 14:54 to play.

The Bruins went on a 7-0 run and cut the lead to 48-44 on a Jordan Adams jumper with 13:10 left in the game and an Adams layup made it 54-50 with 9:05 left, but Starks hit a big three, followed that with a layup and sophomore guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) hit a driving layup with to make it 61-53 with 8:01 left.

The Hoyas jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead after a basket from Porter - his first points of the season - a conventional three-point play from Lubick, a layup from Whittington and a three from Starks, giving GU an 8-point lead at 17:22.

UCLA used a 12-4 run and tied the game at 14-all on a dunk from David Wear at the 12:28 mark. It was back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, with seven lead changes and two more ties.

Jumpers from Larry Drew and one from Travis Wear gave UCLA its biggest lead, 24-20, with 8:32 to play, but a layup from Starks and free throws from Porter tied the game, starting an 11-3 run over 3:29 and capped by a three-pointer from Whittington, giving the Hoyas a 31-29 lead. Georgetown had a pair of possessions in the final minute but could not capitalize and a dunk from Shabazz Muhammad made it a 31-29 game at the break.

Georgetown shot 54.5 percent from the floor (30-of-55), hit 73.3 percent of its free throws (11-of-15) and was 50.0 percent from three-point land (7-of-14).