Georgetown Shares the Spoils

Green's 21 Points, Bench Contributions Key to Hoyas' Victory: Georgetown 67, West Virginia 60

Jeff Green shoots over West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle in the 2nd half. The Hoyas are in 3rd place in the Big East and have won 3 games in a row. (Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)

The biggest basket in Georgetown's 67-60 win over West Virginia yesterday afternoon came from a player who had not made a shot during the entire game. But why should that be a surprise? The Hoyas have won games that way all season, with players stepping up in key situations.

Senior Darrel Owens converted an open three-pointer from the right side as the shot clock expired with 2 minutes 40 seconds left in the game. Owens hadn't made a three-point shot in more than two weeks, but his basket broke a tie at 54 and started a 13-6 run the Hoyas used to close out the game in front of a season-high 14,458 at MCI Center.

"What we wanted didn't happen," said Georgetown Coach John Thompson III, who called a timeout with 2:51 on the game clock and eight seconds on the shot clock. "When the play was not there, we moved it around, no one forced anything, and we got an open shot for a guy who can make shots. That's kind of the way this game played out. When we had to, our guys relied on each other."

As a result, the Hoyas added another line to their NCAA tournament résumé. Georgetown is 16-6 overall and 8-3 in the Big East, behind only No. 4 Boston College (9-1) and No. 8 Syracuse (9-2). West Virginia, which was nationally ranked earlier in the season following wins over George Washington and N.C. State, fell to 14-8 overall and 4-7 in the conference.

Georgetown shot 55.6 percent (25 for 45), but that shouldn't obscure the solid defensive effort of the Mountaineers. The Hoyas committed a season-high 18 turnovers (11 in the first half) and had problems going against West Virginia's 1-3-1 zone, which is active and aggressive. Players get trapped on the sides, and passes through the middle are slapped away.

"They are very good at that," Thompson said. "It's hard to script plays, it's hard to be pretty against their defense. If you work the ball around and don't panic when you get a pass, usually you can get an okay look. That's what our guys did a good job of. That defense is extremely effective."

Georgetown freshman Jeff Green scored a game-high 21 points and added nine rebounds (five offensive). He dominated in the second half, scoring 17 points, but the Hoyas' win was a testament not so much to his effort as it was to everyone making smart decisions and big plays when needed.

During an important 6-0 run early in the second half, for instance, junior Brandon Bowman opted against taking a wide-open three-pointer and instead passed the ball to a cutting Roy Hibbert (eight points), who went in for a layup. Freshman guard Jonathan Wallace struggled with his shot (1 of 6 for four points), but he tied his career high with six assists.

"We've learned to trust each other," said Bowman, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds.

Georgetown, which for so long found ways to lose close games, once again was steady down the stretch. West Virginia's Patrick Beilein tied the score at 54 with an open three-pointer with 5:29 left, and the Mountaineers had a chance to take the lead. But Mike Gansey's shot bounced away, and somehow Georgetown's 6-foot-1 Ray Reed came down with the rebound instead of West Virginia's 6-11 D'or Fischer. Owens made his three-pointer on the next possession, and then Bowman knocked away a pass that led to a fast-break dunk by Reed that put Georgetown up 59-54.

West Virginia fought back. Beilein was left alone and made a three-pointer, and after Georgetown burned some time off the clock, Tyrone Sally scored on a layup to pull the Mountaineers to 61-59 with 29 seconds left.

The Mountaineers were directed not to foul on Georgetown's next possession, and Reed passed out of a triple-team to Green, who found an open Bowman for a layup that put the Hoyas up, 63-59, with 20 seconds left to help put the game away.

"Georgetown played so well; they did so many things, they made big shots," West Virginia Coach John Beilein said. "They really seem to have a great team. I thought [former coach Craig Esherick's] teams had great teamwork, too. But it seems that no one worries about their own thing. And Green makes a huge, huge difference."

Hoyas Notes: The upper deck at MCI Center was open to fans for the first time this season because of the demand for tickets. Approximately 1,800 walk-up tickets were sold, according to a Georgetown official.