Hoyas Whip Colonials 80-66, Improve to 3-0

The Undefeated Juggernaut Hoyas of Georgetown defeated the Robert Morris Colonials in incredibly relaxing fashion on Saturday afternoon at Verizon Center.  Since our usual recap guru OverTheHilltop decided the care of his children is more important than providing the masses a casual recap, a more formal recap of the festivities follows below courtesy of Georgetown Sports Information Director Mex Carey.

I will add, however, that though it has only been three games, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this team so far and am excited.

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Smith's Double-Double Paces Georgetown, Hoyas Beat Robert Morris, 80-66

WASHINGTON - Georgetown University senior center Joshua Smith (Kent, Wash./Kentwood/UCLA) recorded his second-straight double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Georgetown beat Robert Morris, 80-66, at Verizon Center on Saturday afternoon.

It was the third-straight win to open the season for the Hoyas, who are now 3-0. Robert Morris falls to 1-3 overall.

Smith connected on 9-of-12 shots from the field as he recorded his second-straight game with at least 20 points to lead three Hoyas in double figures. Junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central/Oak Hill) scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and tied a career high with seven assists, while freshman forward L.J. Peak (Gaffney, S.C./Gaffney) added 12 points, two rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) had six points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

The Hoyas led by only three points, 21-18, late in the first half and used a 15-6 run over the final 7:28 of the first half to push the lead to 12 points, 36-24, at the break. The second half opened with a 12-5 run over the opening 4:11 as GU extended its lead to 19 points, 48-29, on a layup from Hopkins. Smith scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, including six of the team's first 10 points.

Free throws from Peak on the next possession gave the Hoyas a 50-29 lead. The Blue & Gray took their biggest lead, 58-31, on a free throw from Smith with 12:00 on the clock. The Hoyas lead never got below 17 points through most of the second half and GU was up 76-54 after a layup from freshman guard Tre Campbell (Washington, D.C./St. John's College HS) with 2:01 to play. The Colonials out-scored GU 14-4 over the final two minutes of play to make the final 80-66.

Senior guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) hit a pair of three-pointers in the opening minutes of the game as the Hoyas took a 12-4 lead to start, but RMU used a 10-3 run sandwiched around three-pointers from Marcquise Reed and Rodney Prior to pull within 15-14.

A conventional three-point play from Smith with 8:21 to play gave the Hoyas a seven-point lead, 21-14, but free throws from Elijah Minnie and Kavon Stewart narrowed the gap to 21-18.

The long run to end the first half was sparked by senior guard Aaron Bowen (Jacksonville, Fla./QEA [N.C.]) and was followed by a Hopkins layup to quickly push the lead to nine points, 27-18. A jumper from Peak made it 29-18 and a three-pointer from Smith-Rivera pushed it to 32-20. Peak, whose free throws with 53 seconds closed out GU's first half scoring, tallied nine of his 12 points in the first half.

Georgetown held Robert Morris to just 30.5 percent shooting from the field (18-of-59) for the game as the Colonials made just seven of 28 shots in the first half (25.0%).

Eleven different players scored for the Hoyas, including 22 points off the bench. Sophomore forward Reggie Cameron (Hackensack, N.J./Hudson Catholic) added five points and two rebounds, while freshman forward Paul White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) added four points and five rebounds.

The Hoyas out-rebounded Robert Morris, 47-31, handed out 17 assists and committed 15 turnovers, with eight blocked shots and six steals.

Georgetown is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 29, playing Florida in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.