Hoyas ‘leap off page’

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By Patrick Stevens

The Washington Times

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

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Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax's best - and, really, only - response to Chris Wright's defensive rebound and race to a layup less than three minutes into Monday's game at Verizon Center was to call a timeout.

Even by then, it was much, much too late.

The No. 19 Hoyas obliterated Savannah State 100-38 as five players scored in double figures. Georgetown recorded its largest margin of victory since a 112-39 rout of the University of the District of Columbia on Dec. 16, 1989. The 62-point win is believed to be Georgetown's largest margin of victory against a Division I team.

It was the Hoyas' first 100-point performance at Verizon Center since an overtime loss to Notre Dame in 2002. Georgetown's 69.8 percent shooting performance was the most efficient in coach John Thompson III's five seasons.

“A lot of things leap off the page,” Thompson conceded.

It didn't take long for the Hoyas to extinguish any drama from the proceedings, aside from whether they would score 100 points for only the second time under Thompson. They did when walk-on Bryon Jansen made two free throws with 47 seconds left, but there is more compelling action ahead.

That would be Saturday's visit from No. 17 Memphis, an outing long anticipated as both the Hoyas' marquee home nonconference game and a rematch of Georgetown's 85-71 loss to the eventual national runner-up a season ago.

“It's encouraging regardless of who's coming in here,” Thompson said. “I think we're getting better. I think we're making progress.”

It was an unpleasant homecoming for Broadnax, who played for Georgetown in the 1980s and fell to 0-7 in his coaching career against his alma mater. The Tigers (5-4) were nine days removed from pushing Michigan to overtime but never established themselves against the Hoyas.

About the only way Broadnax's overmatched team even minimally affected the Hoyas was when it could establish its press after a score - and the Tigers didn't receive many opportunities to do so in the first half. Georgetown scored the game's first seven points and made its first six shots - and that was before it really created separation.

Though the entire game was a prolonged Georgetown run, its most dominant stretch came in the nearly 14 minutes heading into halftime. The Hoyas uncorked a 40-5 outburst, dominating every facet while receiving help from nearly every corner of the roster.

“If the ball's not going in, we can't set up our press and we can't get excited about playing defense,” said Broadnax, whose team shot 22.8 percent. “The ball wasn't going in tonight, and we were kind of lackluster on the defensive end for a little. If the ball don't fall, it ain't going to work.”

The pattern repeated itself after halftime as Georgetown closed the game with a 37-10 stretch. A little chippy play in the final minutes and the Hoyas hitting the century mark were all that broke up the monotony of a lopsided affair.

The steadiness of the drubbing, arguably more so than the margin or any other gaudy number, might be the most impressive facet the Hoyas can take with them into Saturday's showdown.

“It's real hard, especially against a team that can shoot,” said guard Jessie Sapp, who scored 14 points along with DaJuan Summers and Austin Freeman. “Coach said they were down 20 to Clemson [and rallied], and we just didn't want to be comfortable. We wanted to continue to improve. But it was good.”