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Hibbert's late 3-pointer lifts Georgetown over UConn

Jan 12, 2008 - 11:42 PM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Roy Hibbert does most of his work in the paint. But the towering center's rare foray into 3-point range helped Georgetown edge longtime rival Connecticut.

Hibbert scored 20 points and drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with under five seconds remaining Saturday afternoon as the eighth-ranked Hoyas edged the pesky Huskies, 72-69, in a Big East Conference thriller.

Georgetown's leading scorer and rebounder, the 7-2 Hibbert entered the matinee contest 1-for-1 from beyond the arc in his career.

But the senior calmly sank a 24-footer in the waning seconds Saturday to lift the Hoyas (13-1, 3-0 Big East) to just their second win in their last 13 meetings with the Huskies (11-4, 2-2), who were without coach Jim Calhoun.

"In all aspects, Roy Hibbert is a basketball player who happens be 7-2 and a center," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "He is involved at a high-level in every aspect of the game.

"I think a lot of people just go and look at the stat sheet, but the nature of how we do things and the nature of the personnel we have on our team is that it's going to be spread around."

Patrick Ewing Jr. scored 14 points and Austin Freeman chipped in 13 for Georgetown, which posted consecutive wins over UConn for the first time since winning six straight from 1991-93.

Calhoun missed the contest while battling flu-like symptoms and was replaced by veteran assistant George Blaney.

Calhoun, who watched the game from the locker room, also missed the final 15 minutes of UConn's last contest - an 81-65 victory over St. John's on Tuesday.

Facing a 67-61 deficit with three minutes remaining, the Hoyas closed out the contest on an 11-2 run.

Freeman and Jessie Sapp both drilled 3-pointers to forge a 67-67 tie with 2:30 left, and Ewing was credited with a layup following a goaltending call that knotted the game at 69-69 just 43 seconds later.

After UConn's Doug Wiggins missed a jumper, the Hoyas called a timeout with 32 seconds remaining.

Georgetown worked the clock down before Hibbert stepped behind the arc at the top of the key and drilled his second 3-pointer of the season to make it 72-69 with 4.2 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, the Huskies failed to even attempt a final shot, as A.J. Price mishandled an inbounds pass over the closing seconds.

"I think (league play) is what should matter to every team in every conference," Thompson said. "Conference play is what determines whether you make it to the postseason or not."

Jeff Adrien paced UConn with 18 points, Price collected 17 points and nine assists and Wiggins chipped in 15 points off the bench for the Huskies, who were without Calhoun for an entire game for the first time since February 2003.