Hibbert fights off Irish

The force was with Big Roy.

Dominating his duel with Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody, Georgetown senior Roy Hibbert restated his case as the Big East’s premier pivot, powering the No. 5 Hoyas to an 84-65 rout of the Irish before a sellout crowd of 19,286 fans yesterday at Verizon Center.

The victory keeps Georgetown (14-2, 4-1 Big East) deadlocked atop the league standings heading into tomorrow’s home meeting with top traditional rival Syracuse (13-6, 3-3).

Once again, Georgetown struggled with its 3-point shooting, missing its first seven attempts from beyond the arc. But Hibbert and the hounding Hoyas’ defense proved more than enough to overcome the slow start and the Irish (13-4, 3-2).

Scoring at will over the 6-foot-8 Harangody, Hibbert (21 points, five assists) single-handedly changed the game’s momentum midway through the first half. He authored a personal 9-0 run that helped the Hoyas turn a 17-16 deficit with 9:51 remaining in the first half into a comfortable 38-25 lead at halftime.

And if the 7-foot-2 Hibbert had his way against Notre Dame’s man-to-man defense, his impact proved more devastating for the Irish on the opposite end of the floor. Harangody entered the game leading the Big East in scoring (19.3 points) and averaging 24.3 points in conference play.

He left Verizon Center in a frustrated daze after fouling out with 13 points on 3-for-13 shooting. Harangody’s first shot of the day was a Hibbert-influenced airball that lollipopped well over the hoop.

Things never improved for the sophomore, who absorbed an elbow to the chops from Hibbert while being whistled for his third foul and received his fourth foul trying to back down Hibbert at the other end.

“I think he’s probably learned to play harder and be a more aggressive guy,” said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey of Hibbert’s progression. “He’s a great kid. He’s a nice kid. He’s probably gotten to be a more cruel competitor. And I mean that as a compliment. He’s gotten crueler at going for the jugular when he’s got somebody down. He’s a very talented player, and I’m glad he’s a senior.”

To that end, Hibbert’s intensity level seemed to grow with Harangody’s frustration.

“You can see that look on his face, and you try to take advantage of that or abuse that,” said Hibbert of Harangody. “When he’s getting down on himself or his teammates are getting down on him, we feed off of that and I feed off of that and try to keep pounding it in there.”

But Hibbert received plenty of help yesterday on the defensive end, most notably from sophomore power forward DaJuan Summers.

Notching his first double-double of the season, Summers (17 points, 11 rebounds) erupted from his funk in impressive fashion. The 6-8 Baltimore native had averaged just 4.5 points and four rebounds in Georgetown’s first four Big East games but looked like a different player yesterday.

“DaJuan is a cerebral player. And he’s a thinker. And the last couple of games, he’s been trying to think through too many situations,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “Today he just came out and played hard. … He was extremely aggressive and his energy level was extremely impressive. He brought his lunch pail today, and he worked. It was great to see that.”

Georgetown’s guards also got in on the act on the defensive end, forcing the Big East’s best 3-point shooting team into one of its worst days of the season (7-for-25 from 3-point range).

In particular, the Hoyas did an excellent job of negating Notre Dame sniper Kyle McAlarney, who managed just 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting against the Hoyas.

Georgetown keyed its decisive first-half run with man-to-man defense. The Irish could find few answers to the stifling Georgetown defense after halftime either, shooting just 3-for-16, while the Hoyas surged to a 21-point lead at 48-27 with 17:02 left before Thompson began experimenting with reserves.

“Really, the only looks that we were getting were in transition, when they were scrambled a little bit,” Brey said. “Playing against them in the halfcourt, they switched everything, and they’re long and there’s big bodies in the way. It was hard for us to get into our rhythm.”

Hoyas report

Yesterday at Verizon Center

QUOTABLE

“He’s probably gotten to be a more cruel competitor.”

— Notre Dame coach Mike Brey on the growth of Georgetown senior center Roy Hibbert

BY THE NUMBERS

0-3 Shooting performance from 3-point range for Jonathan Wallace against the Irish. The slumping guard has converted only three of his last 17 attempts from beyond the arc (17.6 percent).

— Barker Davis