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Mount St. Mary's, Md.-Georgetown Preview

Nov 30, 2009 - 11:43 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Mount St. Mary's (3-2) at Georgetown (4-0), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Last season, Georgetown had a week off before facing Mount St. Mary's and ended up needing to hold on for a victory.

This time, the No. 16 Hoyas will have had just two days to get ready as they host the Mountaineers on Monday night.

Mount St. Mary's came to Georgetown on Dec. 20 having managed three wins in its first nine games, but held the Hoyas to a then-season low 38 percent shooting. The Mountaineers pulled within six with less than four minutes to go, but were then held off the scoreboard until 1:20 remained.

"I'm not sure I'm pleased with anyone," coach John Thompson III said following the 69-58 victory. "We did not play well."

Georgetown (4-0) comes into this season's matchup having bounced back from a poor home opener. The Hoyas barely defeated Temple on Nov. 17, winning 46-45, but followed with a 19-point win over Savannah State four days later and got a week off before Saturday's 97-64 drubbing of Lafayette.

They had six players score in double figures for the first time in Thompson's six seasons, led by Jason Clark with a career-high 19 points.

"I don't go into a game saying: 'We need four, five, six guys in double figures,'" Thompson said. "We have a bunch of guys in that locker room that can score points. Who scores the points is irrelevant to this group."

Georgetown will have had its shortest break between games so far this season when it faces the Mountaineers.

Thompson's team has limited opponents to 52.8 points a game and 35.9 percent shooting, but will take on a Mount St. Mary's squad that is also playing strong defense. The Mountaineers have given up 59.0 points per game on 36.0 percent from the field since a season-opening 95-71 loss to then-No. 17 Oklahoma on Nov. 14.

The Mountaineers (3-2), the preseason Northeast Conference favorite, have held opponents to less than 70 points in 52 of their 72 games over the past three seasons.

They are coming off a 65-56 overtime win at Navy on Saturday night. Senior guard Jeremy Goode scored 18 points after being held to a season-low seven in a 74-64 loss to Niagara on Saturday.

Goode, averaging a team-best 16.6 points, managed eight on 2-of-12 shooting in last season's defeat to the Hoyas.

Chris Wright led Georgetown in that game with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Georgetown has won 20 of 25 meetings between the nation's oldest Catholic universities, its most recent loss in the series coming Jan. 18, 1961. Mount St. Mary's is 1-14 against ranked opponents since joining Division I in 1988-89.