Summers, Hoyas Tame Bulls, Win 6th Straight 63-53
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FINAL - The Hoyas toppled the Bulls, 63-53, for their 17th straight home win and 11th in a row vs. a BIG EAST opponent. Sophomore forward DaJuan Summers had a career-high 24 points. Thanks, as always for reading the blog...Should be out here again soon...
Hoyas -
SUMMERS (24 pts, 9 rebounds)
HIBBERT (13 pts, 8 rebounds)
SAPP (11 pts, 5 assists)
Bulls -
JONES (15 pts, 6-13 FG)
GRANSBERRY (13 pts, 9 rebounds)
VERDEJO (11 pts, 7-8 FT)
:47 left - Hibbert another great, quick move inside on Gransberry to give him 13 pts and 8 rebounds... DaJuan Summers then hit a fadeaway jumper and the foul...62-51 Hoyas
1:54 left, 2nd half - Verdejo back at the line (again)...he hit 1 of 2 --and is now 5-for-6 from the line... cutting the Hoya lead to a precarious 7 points... Patrick Ewing Jr then grabbed a huge board offensive board inside to give the Hoyas a 9-point lead again...Dominique Jones hit a floater over Hibbert to cut the lead back to 7...If the Bulls want to win this game they have to 1) stop the Hoyas and 2) score...58-51 Hoyas
3:11 left, 2nd half - 2 Verdejo free throws cut the Hoya lead to 10...On a steal after a miss, Dominique Jones added 2 off glass to bring the Hoya lead to just 8... (Jones has a quiet 13). 56-48 Hoyas
4:58 left, 2nd half - Jessie Sapp is starting to catch fire himself here... 3-for-3 from distance en route to 11 points... Macklin then added two inside on a nice up-and-under to open the Hoya lead up to 14...Gransberry followed up with a put-in to bring his point total to 13. 56-44 Hoyas
8:00 left, 2nd half - Another tough foul inside on Hibbert and of course the fans were screaming for bloody murder...Roy missed the free throw though...Summers had another open look at a 3 but missed (he's 4-8 from distance). Then Gransberry had an open trip to the lane for a huge dunk, stumbled and only managed an off-balance lay-in. Ewing then penetrated for a tough 2 off glass..In transition...Summers scored again and set his career-high (ON A HIGH-FLYING DUNK) with 21 points (7-11 FG)...
10:07 left, 2nd half - Hibbert then went right inside on Gransberry and nailed a nice 2...The Hoyas are playing with a huge lineup right now...Macklin, Rivers Sapp, Ewing Jr and Hibbert... 3 guys like Macklin, Ewing and Hibbert make it tough for Gransberry inside. I think this might be the first time all game that the 3 big guys were all in at the same time. 46-37 Hoyas
11:00 left, 2nd half - Jeremiah Rivers just tried to sprint down the court on defense and seemed to have tweaked his groin or something. He came out of the game and was replaced by Jessie Sapp...then within moments he went back to the scorers table to check in...Then, a bigtime cheap shot from Ajayi on Patrick Ewing Jr and tempers started to flare...A bit of pushing and shoving ensued...Its getting chippy out there. I wouldn't mess with Gransberry though (6'9", 275..) Howard then hit a jumper inside for USF... Jessie Sapp answered with a big 3...44-37 Hoyas
13:28 left, 2nd half - By the way...Clinton Portis is here sporting a sick Red shirt that has all kinds of sick buckles and patches on it...I wish I had his clothing. I would look very, very bad in it though. 41-34 Hoyas
13:54 left, 2nd half - Gransberry just added two more easily inside. Hibbert had a pretty "easy" go of dealing with Gransberry (just 6 pts)..but he seems to be doing much more damage against Vernon Macklin, who is in right now...Nothing against Macklin...he's just no Hibbert. 39-32 Hoyas
17:00 left, 2nd half - Ajayi gets two more inside on a nice pass for USF...He's got 8... Sapp then fouled inside and he hit his 2 free throws (it'd be nice if they stay perfect at the line in the 2nd half). Summers hits another!!!! Season-high for Summers...Then Austin Freeman hit another 3 of his own..Hoyas open up biggest lead of the game...Hoyas 37-28...
18:28 left, 2nd half - Early basket inside by Ajayi for USF...Summers fouled on penetration by Gransberry...Summers hit both...he's got 16... Hoyas up 29-26
HALFTIME - Now it looks like Gransberry's getting all the calls--he hit a nice runner inside over Hibbert (no call)...Then Hibbert returned the favor inside...Great run by the Hoyas to get back into it and start shooting a bit better...They ended the half shooting 29.4 pct ...The stunning turnaround was the Bulls going from 67 pct all the way down to 47.8 pct (11-23)... 27-24 Hoyas

1:10 left, 1st half - Summers went to the line and missed 2...but got fouled on the next Hoyas possession and went back to the line. He's playing with a ton of confidence right now... He hit one FT on his 2nd trip to the line. He has 14. Gransberry got fouled inside by Hibbert on the next possession--and he missed both his free throws. 25-22 Hoyas
2:43 left, 1st half - Rivers airballed a 3 ball...but DaJuan Summers was there for the easy layin...He's got 13 pts to bring the Hoyas within one.. Then on the next possession Jessie Sapp nailed a big 3 to give the Hoyas the lead... Summers' season-high is 18 (vs Alabama) and his career-high is 20 (vs UNC last season). 24-22 Hoyas!
4:03 left, 1st half - Hibbert just added two more inside and the Bulls are settling for fall-away 3-ptrs...Just in the last few minutes the Bulls went from shooting 67 pct to now shooting 55 percent...Hibbert fouled again inside and hit both...22-19 Bulls
5:19 left, 1st half - Gransberry went out to get some air and the first thing the Hoyas did was go down low to Hibbert. Smart move. The other thing is that the Bulls seem to be settling for outside shots all-of-the-sudden and they certainly won't be shooting 66 percent if they keep that up. 22-15 Bulls
7:49 left, 1st half - The Hoyas are shooting a dismal 22.7% from the field and are getting beaten easily on loose balls, the boards and of course on the scoreboard. 22-13 Bulls

9:40 left, 1st half - After a Ajayi basket for USF, Gransberry swatted a Macklin shot and Verdejo scored in transition for USF. The Hoyas are now 5-18 from the field (27 pct)...20-13 USF
11:25 left, 1st half - Jeremiah Rivers hit a jumper (the first basket by someone other than Summers). Then Gransberry tried to penetrate inside, but a double-team of Ewing and Hibbert shut him down. The Hoyas seem to be giving it a run now to try and get back into it... If this does turn into a 3-pt field goal contest it favors the Hoyas...Georgetown is a 38.3 pct team from 3 (2nd in the BIG EAST) and South Florida is 34.3 pct (12th in the Conference) ...16-13 Bulls.
12:14 left, 1st half - Summers hit another 3...(he has all of the Hoyas points). Dominique Jones answered back with another 3 (he has 8 pts). DaJuan Summers nailed another 3 in response...and then Summers made a great move without the ball and scored his 11th point...16-11 Bulls
14:00 left, 1st half - Kentrell just picked up his first 2 points of the game with a nice post move inside on the Hoyas defense...Wallace tried to answer with a 3...but missed a 1-10 start. Dominique Jones then answered with his own 3... Austin Freeman traveled and was subbed out for Patrick Ewing...13-3 Bulls.
15:56 left, 1st half - DaJuan Summers broke the scoring drought with a nice 3...but the Bulls answered with a quick basket in transition...Hoyas are 1-9 from the field....Not great...6-3 Bulls
17:00 left, 1st half - Early on the Hoyas struggled--starting 0-for-6 (including 0-2 from 3-pt)...Verdejo scored inside for the Bulls and Dominique Jones added two more on an inbounds play. 4-0 Bulls
Tipoff - Make some noise:
Clearly keeping an eye on Hibbert vs. Gransberry will be interesting....Also, the overall speed of USF will be a test for the Hoyas...but if Vegas is anywhere close to correct (Hoyas are 20 point favorites)--it could be a long day for the Bulls.
2:00 til tipoff - Who is gonna show?
The entire upper levels of the stadium are empty. I'd say about 500 total people on the upper levels right now. The lower bowls aren't exactly packed either. Then again, it's not a long-standing rivalry, a good team or a weekend. Can't really expect a packed house.

13 minutes til tip - South Florida made a slight change to their starters:
F - Mobolaji Ajayi 1.9 PPG
F - Jesus Verdejo 9.6 PPG
C - Kentrell Gransberry 16.7 PPG
G - Dominique Jones 15.8 PPG
G - Chris Howard 10.1 PPG
7:00 - In case you are as slow as me...
The game starts at 7:30...Not 7, as I previously presumed.
Also, an interesting note... Senior guard Eddie Lovett (of USF) who has never scored more than 6 points in a game and averages just 3.9 minutes/game did not travel with the team because his fiance just had a baby. The child's name is Eddie Lovett III and mom, Patrina, is doing well.
6:45 - The fans are smarter than us... -
Greg, Jessica, Liz and John (part of the incredibly knowledgeable, passionate fans that showed up here in droves) just filled me in on what to expect from tonight's game.
"Its gonna be loud...because of classes just getting out fans are going to be trickling in...--but the passion of the fans here is unmatched."
When I asked them if they were worried about Kentrell Gransberry (and his double-double average) vs Roy Hibbert tonight, Jessica mentioned, "I'm not worried at all about him...[Roy], I don't worry about him...he continuously improving." One of the fans supposedly brings a sign that reads, "I believe in a thing called Roy"--and it appears this group does as well.
The fans also said they're not looking past South Florida, but Saturday's game at Louisville would be a big win...

6:20 - Stat Time:
HOYAS
- Ranked #1 in the country in field goal pct defense, #3 in field goal pct and #4 in scoring defense in the nation.
- 5 straight wins, 16 straight at Verizon Center and 10 straight against BIG EAST opponents
BULLS
- Kentrell Gransberry leads the team in scoring (16.7 PPG) and rebounds (10.8 RPG). Gransberry is 3rd in the BIG EAST in scoring, 2nd in rebounding and field goal pct (55.9). He's also 8th in the Nation in rebounding
HOYAS VS BULLS HISTORY
They have met five times...Gtown has the 3-2 advantage, but this is their second meeting in DC. They didn't meet last season, but the Bulls knocked off the then-#20 ranked Hoyas 63-56 on March 4, 2006 (in Tampa).
I'm gonna talk to some fans and get some thoughts about the game...
6:00 - Do you know where your foam fingers are? The Hoyas and the South Florida Bulls clash tonight here at Verizon Center and we're here and getting ready for the battle. The Hoyas passed out free foam "#1" fingers to a bunch of the fans, so look for those tonight. Starting lineup for the Hoyas is: Jonathan Wallace, DaJuan Summers, Austin Freeman, Jessie Sapp and Roy Hibbert. I'll be back in a minute...
"This will be the first meeting between the Big East schools since a 6-22 South Florida squad stunned then-No. 20 Georgetown 63-56 in Tampa in the teams' regular season finale March 4, 2006."









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