Hibbert Makes Change for the Better

Georgetown 78, American 51

In the immediate aftermath of his feeble performance in last week's loss at second-ranked Memphis, Georgetown center Roy Hibbert vowed to be more aggressive and dominate as best he could. So he decided to adopt a new look to go along with his renewed intensity for eighth-ranked Georgetown's game against American yesterday.

He didn't wear his usual gray T-shirt under his gray jersey -- a style favored by so many Hoyas big men, from Patrick Ewing to Alonzo Mourning to Dikembe Mutombo -- and the very first time he touched the ball, he took it strong to the basket for a layup. The Hoyas dominated the Eagles, 78-51, in front of 10,564 at Verizon Center, and Hibbert finished with 14 points.

"I decided to change my whole attitude," Hibbert explained when asked about the missing shirt. "And I think it started with that."

This was the first meeting between the District rivals since the 1986-87 season, and it came 25 years after American recorded the biggest win in program history, a 62-61 upset of fifth-ranked Georgetown on Dec. 15, 1982.

But Hibbert and the Hoyas made sure there was no upset yesterday; with 10 minutes remaining, they led by 27 points and were shooting 74 percent. Junior forward DaJuan Summers led Georgetown (9-1) with 16 points, freshman guard Chris Wright had 13 and senior guard Jonathan Wallace scored 11.

"For us, being the little kid on the block, this was a chance for our guys to play against another team they see on TV and read about all the time," American Coach Jeff Jones said. "It's a way to measure yourself. Obviously today we didn't quite measure up. But we're happy to have the opportunity."

The Eagles (7-6) had taken advantage of their chance to face a power conference team last week, when they beat Maryland for the first time in 80 years, 67-59, at Comcast Center. The confidence they gained from that victory was evident at the start of yesterday's game, when 5-foot-11 junior Garrison Carr pulled up at the top of the arc and made a three-pointer on American's first possession.

American built a 19-13 lead over the first seven minutes, largely on the strength of its outside shooting; Carr (16 points) and 5-9 junior Derrick Mercer (17 points, five assists) made a combined 5 of 5 three-point shots. The Hoyas knew that the Eagles had capable shooters -- Mercer entered the game shooting 54.2 percent from three-point range -- but Coach John Thompson III didn't like the way his players were giving the Eagles what he called "Sunday, driveway, down at the park and the Boys' Club shots."

"I guess it was a lack of paying attention to that early on, and [Thompson] was kind of upset and got on us," Wallace said. "Guys kind of woke up. DaJuan was showing lot of energy early on; he was all over the place and that carried over to other team members."

So the Hoyas made a conscious effort to extend their defense to the three-point arc and force the Eagles to drive to the basket. American made just 5 of 18 three-point attempts (27.8 percent) the rest of the way.

Georgetown's defense was the catalyst behind two big runs that blew open the game, a 10-0 spurt in the first half and a 17-0 stretch in the second half. Wright (4-of-4 shooting, four assists) came up with steals that led to transition baskets, and the 6-9 Summers poked the ball from Mercer from behind and then dived on the floor to tap the ball ahead to teammate Jessie Sapp.

"They're bigger, stronger, faster, and they were making plays on every pass," said Jones, whose team shot 38.3 percent and committed 21 turnovers. "Just the constant pressure, the constant pushing out, trying to take away the shots, daring us to drive the basketball -- it wore us down."

The Eagles had no one who could physically match up against the 7-2 Hibbert, but 6-9 junior Cornelio Guibunda -- who was part of the same Georgetown recruiting class as Hibbert but transferred after his freshman season -- gave a physical effort. Hibbert was 6 of 9 from the field and grabbed just one rebound in 20 minutes.

Hibbert admitted that the real reason he decided to shed the T-shirt was the extra layer was "making me sweat a little bit more and holding me back a little bit." Wallace didn't seem overly impressed with Hibbert's new look -- after all, he has seen Hibbert without the sleeves a couple times at practice -- but he did like the new attitude.

"He looked strong today, I'll give him that, and he played strong," Wallace said. "So if it works, continue doing it, big fella."