NEW YORK — Georgetown coach John Thompson III has come to expect good things from D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, his senior leader.
Smith-Rivera matched his career high with 33 points as the Hoyas beat St. John’s, 93-73, on Wednesday night, handing the Red Storm a school-record eighth consecutive loss.
“He’s been doing that for four years and, just as important, he also been throwing a lot of good passes,” Thompson said of Smith-Rivera, who leads the Hoyas in scoring and assists. “I think he understands where everyone is and where he is and he can score. At the end of the day, one thing this kid can do is put the ball in the basket. He’s a scorer.”
Smith-Rivera finished 11-for-16 from the field, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range. It was the highest point total this season for any player in the Big East.
“My teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open,” he said. “I usually distribute more, but today was about being in the right spot at the right time.”
Reggie Cameron added a career-high 15 points for the Hoyas (11-6, 4-1 Big East), who won for the fifth time in six games and posted a season-high point total.
The Hoyas shot 51.7 percent from the field in taking a 45-28 halftime lead. The Red Storm could never get any kind of shooting going, hitting 28.6 percent in the first half. With Smith-Rivera scoring eight straight in one run, the Hoyas led by as many as 27 points in a foul-plagued second half.
“I don’t know if it was a fast start,” Thompson said, “We just slowly pulled away in the first half. It wasn’t boom and we had a big lead. In the first half, our guys really helped each other defensively.”
Ron Mvouika had 15 points — all in the second half — for the Red Storm (7-11, 0-5 Big East), who are in the midst of the worst losing streak in the basketball program’s 109-year history.
“It hurts,” Mvouika said. “It feels like the world is on your shoulders. But we’ll figure things out and at some point we’ll break through.”
Durand Johnson was blunt in his assessment of the start.
“They came out and played hard and we came out and were sleepwalking,” the guard said. “They made shots and got confident like good teams do. I don’t think it’s on purpose. It just happens. I don’t know the reason and don’t have an explanation. That’s what I saw.”
First-year coach Chris Mullin agreed that the start was a “step slow. We were lethargic.”
“But, that doesn’t take away from the good performances and the improvement they have made,” he added. “The way we’ve been playing, we’ll win some games and the only way we won’t is if they get down from a game like this.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.