DC Metro Sports - Eighth-Ranked Georgetown Men's Basketball Closes Out 2007 with first of two weekend games

Washington, D.C. – The No. 8-ranked Georgetown University men’s basketball team returns to the hardwood for the first of two games this weekend, hosting local rival American University on Saturday, December 29 at Verizon Center . The Hoyas will tip off at 1 p.m. against the Eagles.

Eighth-Ranked Georgetown Men’s Basketball Closes Out 2007 with First of Two Weekend Games, Hosting American on Saturday

The game can be seen live on MASN, with Jason Knapp handling the play-by-play and former Georgetown standout Mark Tillmon serving as the color analyst. Locally, the game can be heard on SportsTalk 980 AM, with Rich Chvotkin at the microphone.

Georgetown enters the game ranked No. 8 in the country in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ poll. The Hoyas won their first eight games of the season – the first time a squad coached by Head Coach John Thompson III had won its first eight games – before falling to No. 2 Memphis last weekend, 85-71, in Tennessee .

The game with American will be the 49th meeting between the schools, but the first since the 1986-87 season. Georgetown leads the head-to-head series, 40-8, and has won the last four meetings between the teams. The Hoyas are 24-4 at home against American and have not lost a game on their floor to the Eagles since the 1982-83 season, a 62-61 AU win.

Senior center Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep), a preseason All-American who was tabbed as the BIG EAST’s Preseason Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds per game. And 2.2 blocks per game. Hibbert is shooting 62.3 percent from the floor (43-of-69) and ranks second in the BIG EAST Conference in field goal percentage.

Sophomore forward DaJuan Summers ( Baltimore , Md. /McDonogh) is second on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game and is second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. The 6-8 forward is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 37.8 percent from long distance, while connecting on 65.0 percent of his free throws (26-of-40). He is averaging 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in his last three games, shooting 53.2 percent from the floor in that span.

Junior guard Jessie Sapp ( New York , N.Y./National Christian Academy [ Md. ]) is tied for third on the team in scoring (9.6 ppg) and leads the team in assists (3.4 apg). Sapp has reached double figures in scoring four times this season and has led the team in assists in four games. Freshman guard Austin Freeman (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha) has led the team in scoring the last three games and is tied for third in scoring with 9.6 points per game. Freeman, who is shooting 61.8 percent from the floor (34-of-55), is averaging 16.7 points per game in the last three outings.

Senior guard Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) is fourth on the team in scoring with 9.2 points per game, is second on the team with 2.7 assists per game and has made a team-high 16 three-pointers. He needs five more three-pointers to give him 190 for his career and pass Kevin Braswell as the all-time leader in that category at Georgetown .

The Hoyas have been led by a stingy defense, which is allowing opponents to score only 55.7 points per game. Georgetown has allowed 50 or fewer points in three of the last five contests and only one opponent has scored more than 60 against the team this season. Since John Thompson III took over as head coach, Georgetown is 61-6 when opponents score 60 or fewer points, including a 29-2 mark in the last two seasons.

The Hoya starting lineup features four players with a combined 296 starts during their careers. Wallace will start his 112th career game Wednesday, while Hibbert has 96 career starts, followed by Sapp (45) and Summers, who has started 43 games. Senior forward Patrick Ewing, Jr. ( Marietta , Ga. / National Christian Academy [ Md. ], who scored 10 points and had four rebounds at Memphis, has started all nine games this season and has 23 career starts.

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