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Georgetown-Providence Preview

Feb 8, 2010 - 9:42 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Georgetown (17-5) at Providence (12-11), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Georgetown suffered a major letdown the last time it defeated a top 10 opponent. Facing teams ranked in the top 10 is something Providence is about to get used to.

The seventh-ranked Hoyas go on the road Tuesday night as they look to defeat the Friars for the fourth straight time.

Georgetown (17-5, 7-4 Big East) won 89-77 over then-No. 8 Duke on Jan. 30 before suffering a 72-64 home loss to South Florida last Wednesday. The Hoyas bounced back with another huge victory Saturday, 103-90 over then-No. 2 Villanova.

Austin Freeman scored 25 points, Jason Clark added a career-high 24 and Greg Monroe had 19 as Georgetown led by as many as 23 points. The Hoyas forced 16 first-half turnovers to take a 50-31 lead into the break.

"I've said that we have good players in the locker room," coach John Thompson III said. "The key was (Clark, Freeman and Monroe) controlled the game."

The Hoyas have road games at Providence (12-11, 4-7) and Rutgers before hosting No. 2 Syracuse on Feb. 18 They insist they didn't overlook South Florida and won't overlook anyone.

"We didn't learn that on Wednesday, we know that in this league that if you're not at your best you can lose to any team," Monroe said. "It wasn't really a lesson learned, we knew that going in, we just have to make sure we're focused."

Although Georgetown has won three straight in this series, Providence has led at halftime of each contest. Freeman scored 18 points in last season's 82-75 victory in which the Hoyas used a key 15-0 second-half run to take control.

The Friars will face all four Big East teams ranked in the top 10 over the next four games. They have lost 17 of 18 against top 10 foes over the past six seasons, winning 81-73 over then-No. 1 Pittsburgh last season at home.

Providence has lost a season-high three straight after falling 82-79 to Marquette on Saturday. Jamine Peterson had 28 points and 11 boards for the Friars, who shot 27.3 percent on 3-pointers.

Coach Keno Davis was not happy with his team's 15 free-throw attempts. The Friars average 22.1.

"When a game is called like that, it doesn't favor us because we're not as physical as some of the teams in the league," Davis said.

The Friars are last in the Big East in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 45.3 percent. They will be severely tested by a Hoyas team that ranks third in the nation in shooting at 50.3 percent.

The Hoyas shot a season-high 71.7 percent against Duke and finished at 56.3 against Villanova.

"We have good players, we have unselfish players and they've done a terrific job of helping each other and making sure the right person gets the shot out of our offense," Thompson said.

Georgetown has won four of six, losing both games in which Monroe fouled out.