No. 5 Hoyas Hold Off Ball State 57-48

Georgetown center Roy Hibbert (55) battles Ball State guard Peyton Stovall (12) for a rebound during the first half of a college basketball game in Muncie, Ind., Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings - AP)

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Roy Hibbert scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and fifth-ranked Georgetown made seven 3-pointers in a 57-48 win over outmanned Ball State on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals (0-3) were led by Peyton Stovall with 16 points.

The game was originally scheduled as a reunion of Hoyas coach John Thompson III and his brother, Ronny, the ex-Cardinals coach. Instead, Ronny Thompson resigned in July amid an NCAA scandal and after accusing school officials of creating a "racially hostile environment."

Some wondered how the Ball State crowd would react to Thompson III and his Hoyas. But with most of the students already home for Thanksgiving and the football team sitting near the Georgetown bench, fans were polite. They actually booed louder for Hibbert, the preseason All-American, than Thompson during introductions.

Ball State, playing with only seven scholarship players, tried to slow down the Hoyas with a zone defense.

It didn't have much of a choice. The Cardinals had nobody taller than 6-foot-4 and announced before the game that Anthony Newell, their top scorer, would miss six to eight weeks due to a left foot injury.

Ball State added two walk-ons before the game just to fill out the bench, and the Cardinals were so depleted that Rob Giles, who didn't play in the last game Nov. 14 because of a stiff back, started. Giles played 25 minutes.

Georgetown relied on its superior size, depth and talent, and eventually took advantage.

The Hoyas used a 22-7 run over an eight-minute stretch in the first half to build a 31-18 halftime lead.

In the second half, Georgetown tried to speed up the game and appeared headed toward a rout when it led 42-26 with 13:27 to go.

Ball State, however, fought back, cutting the deficit to 49-41 with 5:02 left and was within 51-45 with two minutes left before the Hoyas sealed it by making six free throws in the final 33.7 seconds.

Melvin Goins scored 11 points for the Cardinals on the same night Stovall became the 24th player in school history to join the 1,000-point club.

DaJuan Summers and Jessie Sapp each added 11 points for the Hoyas.

It was easily Georgetown's lowest scoring total of the early season, after scoring 68 and 74 points in the first two games.