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Notre Dame upsets Georgetown to open Big East play

Dec 30, 2010 - 3:56 AM Notre Dame, IN (Sports Network) - Tim Abromaitis made five three-pointers on his way to a 20-point effort, and No. 15 Notre Dame opened Big East play with a thorough 69-55 victory over ninth-ranked Georgetown at the Joyce Center.

Tyrone Nash chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (12-1, 1-0 Big East), winners of four straight since their lone loss to Kentucky.

Ben Hansbrough and Scott Martin added 17 and 11 points, respectively, and helped contain Chris Wright, who shot a woeful 1-for-9 from the field and ended with only three points in defeat.

"I had no indication that I was going to be off today. It was one of those days," admitted Wright. "I had a few open looks that I thought would go in, but the shot didn't come off right and the ball didn't go in the basket."

Austin Freeman was Georgetown's only offensive threat with 21 points. The Hoyas (11-2, 0-1) made just 4-of-22 three-point attempts and gave up 16 second-chance points.

Georgetown fouled itself into the penalty early in the first half, and Notre shot 11-of-14 from the foul line over the opening 20 minutes to jump ahead.

Martin's late jumper rattled in to give the hosts a 34-26 lead at halftime.

Hollis Thompson hit a jumper three minutes into the second half to cut the deficit to 34-30, but the Irish ripped off 14 of the next 16 points. Martin scored seven points on the flurry, including back-to-back layups for a 48-32 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play.

Georgetown countered with nine straight points to pull within seven, but after Nash stemmed the tide with a putback layup, Abromaitis and Hansbrough each hit from long range the next two times down for a 56-43 cushion with six minutes remaining.

The closest the Hoyas got from there was nine, 56-47, and Abromaitis' three- point play with 3 1/2 minutes left gave Notre Dame a 12-point lead that was never seriously threatened down the stretch.

"We expect to win every game," Nash exclaimed. "With this group of guys we should win every game, but we have to keep coming out here, working hard, staying aggressive, playing defense and get better. Who knows what will happen if we keep getting better."

Game Notes

The Hoyas hold a slim, 14-13, edge in the all-time series, but Notre Dame has won the last three meetings...Georgetown, which had won three straight games since suffering a loss to Temple, went to the line only nine times, making five. The Irish, meanwhile, shot 22-of-27 from the foul line...Notre Dame is next in action at nationally-ranked Syracuse on New Year's Day...The Hoyas also play Saturday against DePaul.