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No. 10 Georgetown hangs on to beat Rutgers

Jan 21, 2012 - 10:36 PM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Otto Porter hit two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to give Georgetown the lead and Rutgers' Eli Carter missed a driving layup as time expired, giving the 10th-ranked Hoyas a 52-50 win over the Scarlet Knights at the Verizon Center.

Myles Mack missed a three-pointer for Rutgers with 25 seconds to play, giving Georgetown possession with the game tied at 50-50. After a timeout, Porter was fouled away from the ball and sank both from the line to put the Hoyas ahead.

Rutgers still had time and Carter drove the left side of the lane for a shot that bounced off the rim and the glass before falling off as the buzzer sounded.

Asked about his go-ahead foul shots, Porter said he was just trying to stay in the moment.

"I was just thinking hit the free throws. That's all I was thinking about it," he said. "It just came. I've practiced my free throws, and I was able to hit them."

Carter scored 14 points for the Scarlet Knights (11-9, 3-4 Big East), who were trying for their third win over a top-10 opponent this season. Rutgers beat then-No. 10 Florida, 85-83, in double-overtime on December 29 and also knocked off then-No.8 Connecticut, 67-60, on January 7. Both wins came at home.

Rutgers, which hadn't won at Georgetown since December 8, 1998, led for the majority of Saturday's contest but couldn't put the cold-shooting Hoyas away.

Scarlet Knights head coach Mike Rice wasn't sure about some of the fouls called down the stretch, including the last one.

"We do foul. We did play a lot without a purpose as far as our positioning and playing with our hands instead of our feet and our bodies," said Rice. "But it was interesting the last two minutes that is was decided by a whistle by a certain individual referee who decided to take it upon himself to decide the game."

Porter scored nine points for Georgetown (16-3, 6-2), which has won three in a row and will have a week off before a visit to Pittsburgh next Saturday.

Henry Sims paced the Hoyas with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Jason Clark scored 11. The two combined to make 16-of-23 free throws and Georgetown finished the contest 25-of-36 from the stripe to offset a 29.3 percent performance from the field.

Georgetown struggled mightily through an ugly first half and trailed 25-20. The Hoyas made just 3-of-23 shots, missing all eight from three-point range, but managed to stay close thanks to a 14-for-18 effort from the line.

Markel Starks ended Georgetown's three-point drought with a long-range make to start the second half, but Gilvydas Biruta answered with a trey at the other end and the Scarlet Knights managed to stay in front. A Derrick Randall layup gave Rutgers its largest lead at 38-31 with just over 12 minutes remaining.

The Hoyas responded with the next seven points and tied it at 38-38 on a three-pointer by Greg Whittington. It remained close until Rutgers opened a 50-45 edge on a three-pointer by Carter with 2 1/2 minutes left. Georgetown scored the next five, tying the contest on Porter's bucket with just over a minute remaining.

Rutgers led by as many as six early, taking a 13-7 advantage on a banked three-pointer by Jerome Seagers with 11 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but Georgetown battled back with the next six points. The Hoyas took their only lead of the half at 20-18 on a pair of free throws by Nate Lubick with 4:26 left, but Carter answered with a three-pointer on the next Rutgers trip and the Scarlet Knights went into the break with a five-point edge.

Game Notes

Georgetown shot 50 percent in the second half and finished the contest a dismal 3-of-14 from beyond the arc...Rutgers shot 37.7 percent overall and canned 6-of-16 from three-point range...The Scarlet Knights had just seven free throws and made four...Georgetown leads the all-time series, 27-16, including 18-2 at home.