WASHINGTON – No. 12 Georgetown opened a 10-point lead in the second half, saw No. 4 Louisville come back to tie the game, but freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) scored six of the team’s final eight points in the last two minutes as the Hoyas beat the Cardinals, 71-68, in front of 22,517 fans at the Yum Center Wednesday night.

Georgetown, winners of nine-straight games, improves to 11-1 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST. The Hoyas handed Louisville their first loss of the season, as they fall to 12-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.

 Sophomore guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep) scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, while the Hoyas received a big boost from their freshmen off the bench, with four players – Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./Georgetown Prep), Porter, Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) and Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mils) – combining for 25 points, 22 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 Porter finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) added 10 points and five rebounds.

 The Hoyas led 59-49 with 6:18 left, but the Cardinals stormed back and tied the game at 63-all on a dunk from Gorgui Dieng with 2:01 left in the game. Porter, however, gave Georgetown the lead for good when he tipped in a missed shot with 1:42 to play. After a missed three-pointer and a rebound by Porter, senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./McDonough) pushed the lead to four points, 67-63, with a pair of free throws.

 Two more free throws from Porter with 40 seconds left made it 69-63, but Russ Smith hit a three-pointer to make it a one possession game. Porter calmly sank two free throws with 19 seconds left to make it 71-66 and seal the win.

 The Hoyas trailed by three points, 35-32, but a jumper from Starks and a layup from senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O’Connell) gave the Hoyas a 36-35 lead and forced Louisville to call a timeout. From that point it was neck-and-neck as the team’s traded the lead back and forth seven times over the ensuing seven minutes. A three from Starks gave GU a 39-37 lead, but the Cardinals used a 7-0 run to take a 44-39 lead on a dunk from Gorgui Dieng.

 Georgetown responded with its own 7-0 run, a layup from Sims, a layup from Porter and a three from Starks, to take a 46-44 lead with 13:22 left. A layup from Peyton Siva gave Louisville a 47-46 lead with 11:49 to play, but a jumper from Thompson wrested the lead back and started a 13-2 run over 4:10 that gave the Hoyas a 59-49 on the fourth three-pointer on the second half from Starks.

 Louisville jumped on top early in the game, taking a 12-3 lead at the 16:15 mark aided by three-pointers from Kuric (two) and Chris Smith. The lead was still nine points, 17-8, after a layup from Russ Smith at the 13:19 mark.

 Aided by the play of a young lineup – two sophomores (Lubick and Starks) and three freshmen (Hopkins, Porter and Trawick) – Georgetown cut back into the lead. Free throws from Trawick, a layup from Lubick and one from Porter cut the lead to 17-14. After a layup from Smith made it 19-14, Trawick’s three made it 19-17 and a put-back dunk from Thompson cut the lead to 22-21. Free throws from Trawick capped a 16-7 run over 7:17 and tied the game at 24-all.

 After a free throw from Jared Shropshire gave Louisville a 25-24 lead, free throws from Hopkins with 4:00 to play in the half gave GU its first lead of the game, 26-25. The Cardinals pushed the lead to 33-28 with 1:33 to play, but a layup from Porter and free throws from Starks cut the lead to 35-32 at the break.