Georgetown Defeats Washington in Men's Basketball

ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- After a less than rigorous start to the season, Georgetown manhandled Washington, 74-66, Saturday, toppling its second ranked opponent in five days and proving it can play more than one style of basketball.

In beating the Pacific-10's best team in the opening game of the John Wooden Classic, the Hoyas (8-0) gave legitimacy to their No. 15 ranking and proved they're capable of climbing further.

Traditionally regarded as deliberate and cerebral, Georgetown outhustled the 17th-ranked Huskies with physical, aggressive play -- particularly on the part of Julian Vaughn, who paced the Hoyas with a career-high 18 points, and Jason Clark, who added 13.

Just four days earlier, Georgetown leaned on a different inside-outside tandem -- sophomore center Greg Monroe and shooting guard Austin Freeman -- in defeating No. 22 Butler.

Between them, the two victories provided a glimpse of the versatility that appears to be the Hoyas' strong suit this season.

"We have an extremely unselfish group," Coach John Thompson III said after Saturday's victory, in which all five Georgetown starters finished in double figures. Monroe scored 15 points. Junior guard Chris Wright had 13, and Freeman added 11.

"This will be the strength of our team," Thompson said. "We realized that Julian had some advantages [against Washington's lineup]. It will be someone else as we go along. We have many different people and many different options on our offense."

Washington (6-2) boasts the most explosive offense the Hoyas have faced this season, averaging 86.3 points per game.

But Saturday, Georgetown beat Washington at its own game, forcing more turnovers (25 to 17) and prevailing in an up-tempo contest despite the best efforts of the Huskies' shooting stars, 6-foot-6 forward Quincy Pondexter and 5-8 guard Isaiah Thomas, who finished with 23 and 21 points, respectively.

Pondexter had nothing but compliments for Monroe following the loss.

"He's real difficult to guard because of his size and versatility," Pondexter said. "He's a tremendous player."

And Pondexter faulted himself for the Huskies' sluggish start to the second half, which the Hoyas opened with a 14-2 run.