Roy Hibbert had a big game at the other end of the court.
The 7-foot-2 senior has been a key cog in the seventh-ranked Hoyas’ dominant defense. In Tuesday night’s 76-60 victory over DePaul, Hibbert was downright offensive.
The preseason All-America had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Hoyas (12-1, 2-0), who won their fourth straight since losing at No. 2 Memphis.
“They get me the ball and I’ve got to get them the ball, as well,” Hibbert said of his teammates. “I get them some passes and more open looks and set some screens so they can get good shots and that will open up things for me down low. … It’s fun to score a little bit and then when people start focusing on you and turn their back, I try to hit them with passes.”
Don’t think Hibbert has gone point guard. He still made life miserable for the Blue Demons (6-8, 2-1), who had won four straight and were off to their first-ever 2-0 start in the Big East.
“In many ways his scoring is irrelevant. … Just his effort and energy level was terrific and it was infectious to the rest of our team,” Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. “The rebounds he ran down and the defensive plays that he made. His decision-making is always good. He just set the tone, set it early.”
Georgetown scored the game’s first 11 points and led 46-25 at halftime.
“We made sure we limited them to one shot and made it hard for them to score over us and made it tough for them down low,” Hibbert said. “That opened up the floodgates for us.”
In other games involving ranked teams on Tuesday, it was: No. 3 Kansas 90, Loyola of Maryland 60; No. 6 Michigan State 78, Purdue 75; No. 10 Indiana 78, Michigan 64; and No. 15 Marquette 61, Seton Hall 56.
Freshman Austin Freeman had 13 points for Georgetown while Jessie Sapp and Jonathan Wallace added 12 each.
“Our guys did a good job of sharing the ball,” Thompson said.
Mac Koshwal had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Demons, and, like teammate Wesley Green, had a lot of trouble defending Hibbert.
“I tried my best to guard him,” said Koshwal, a 6-foot-10 freshman. “He’s a very skilled big man.”
DePaul missed 18 of its first 22 shots, while the Hoyas connected on 12 of their first 17. At halftime, the Hoyas were 19-for-29 (65 percent) while DePaul was 8-of-33 (24 percent), including 2-of-14 on 3-pointers.
Georgetown finished at 54 percent and held DePaul to 32 percent. The Hoyas entered the game shooting 52 percent from the field and allowing opponents to hit just 34.8 percent. They had allowed an average of 54.4 points and only Memphis has scored more than 60.
No. 3 Kansas 90, Loyola, Md. 60
Sherron Collins scored 18 points for the Jayhawks (15-0) who closed the first half on a 15-2 run to easily win their final nonconference game before Big 12 play begins. Kansas, which played with injured guard Mario Chalmers, is off to its fifth 15-0 start and first since winning the opening 19 games in 1989-90. The Jayhawks remained one of the six unbeaten teams left in Division I.
Gerald Brown had 13 points for the visiting Greyhounds (6-9), who dropped to 0-18 all-time against ranked teams.
No. 6 Michigan St. 78, Purdue 75
Reserve Kalin Lucas scored 16 points and Travis Walton scored all of his four in the final 22 seconds for the Spartans (14-1, 2-0 Big Ten), who won their 11th straight game. Michigan State shot 61 percent from the field but still had to score the game’s final five points for the win.
Chris Kramer had 19 points for the visiting Boilermakers (10-5, 1-1), who played without No. 3 scorer and top rebounder Robbie Hummel, who was sidelined with flu symptoms.
No. 10 Indiana 78, Michigan 64
D.J. White had 21 points and a career-high 22 rebounds – Indiana’s first 20-20 game since Alan Henderson in 1995 – and freshman Eric Gordon had 23 points for the visiting Hoosiers (13-1, 2-0 Big Ten).
Freshman Manny Harris had 19 points for the Wolverines (4-11, 0-3), who are off to their worst start after 15 games since going 2-13 in 1981-82.
No. 15 Marquette 61, Seton Hall 56
Jerel McNeal scored 14 points and Dominic James added 13 for the Golden Eagles (12-2, 2-1 Big East), who clinched their 11th straight home win on a 3-pointer by Dan Fitzgerald with 9.4 seconds left. James fell awkwardly on his right wrist when he was intentionally fouled by Jamar Nutter with six minutes to play. He returned to the game but was taken to a hospital for tests after the game.
Eugene Harvey had 18 points for the Pirates (10-5, 0-2), who haven’t won a conference road game since March 3, 2006.
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