Georgetown wins Big East opener; Butler romps

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Chris Wright scored 21 points, Greg Monroe and Austin Freeman each had 15 points, and No. 13 Georgetown beat St. John’s 66-59 on Thursday night in the Big East opener for both teams.

Georgetown (10-1, 1-0 Big East) was playing just its third game since Dec. 12, and looked rusty at times. They built a 12-point first-half lead, but repeatedly allowed pesky St. John’s (10-3, 0-1) back in the game.

The Red Storm took a 51-50 lead on Dwight Hardy’s 3-pointer with 9:31 to play. Wright converted on a three-point play to give Georgetown a 53-51 lead, but Hardy hit another 3-pointer to make it 54-53.

Julian Vaughn hit a dunk, Greg Monroe made one of two free throws and a layup and Jason Clark a layup to make it 60-54 with 5:12 left.

The Red Storm had a chance to tie in the final minutes. D.J. Kennedy hit a 3-pointer with 4:29 to play, but Hardy missed a 3-pointer with 3:20 to go and Sean Evans was called for an offensive foul with 2:42 left.

Freeman sealed the game with two free throws with 16.6 seconds remaining to make it 66-59.

Butler 72, Wisconsin-Green Bay 49

INDIANAPOLIS — Shelvin Mack scored 14 points as Butler handed Wisconsin-Green Bay its first Horizon League defeat.

Gordon Hayward added 13 and Willie Veasley 10 for the Bulldogs (9-4, 2-0), whose scoring was spread among 11 players. Veasley also had four steals, and Andrew Smith grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

The Phoenix (10-5, 3-1) got 11 points from Rian Pearson and 10 from Seth Evans.

Returning to the court after an eight-day layoff, Butler went on a 14-7 run that turned an 8-8 tie into a 22-15 advantage with 6:44 left in the first half. The lead crested at 11 late in the half, and the Bulldogs led 35-27 at the break.

Butler roared out of the second-half gate on a 12-2 surge. Only Matt Smith’s dunk interrupted the run, which gave the Bulldogs a comfortable 47-29 edge with 15:59 to play.