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After bouncing back from a surprising loss, the Georgetown Hoyas will look to build on their first win when they host the Siena Saints on Friday night in Washington, D.C.
Georgetown, upset by Dartmouth in its opener, pulled away from American University in the second half Tuesday night for a 79-57 win, avoiding their first 0-2 start in six seasons.
The Hoyas used a 24-2 second-half run that was sparked in part by their bench.
"All those guys did a great job of helping us to go on that run," coach Patrick Ewing said of his bench. "They were making shots; they were also doing a great job on the defensive end, got a couple of steals and also dropping it off to the bigs."
Timothy Ighoefe, who missed the opener with a concussion, had six points and 11 rebounds in his season debut. Big East preseason Freshman of the Year Aminu Mohammed led the Hoyas with 14 points and added 10 rebounds.
"I feel like I'm adjusting pretty good," Mohammed said. "Tonight, I was going in too deep and making some bad decisions, which is something I'll have to correct -- make the right play while going downhill."
So far, it has been all downhill for the Saints (0-3), who have lost each game by 20 or more points, including Tuesday's 82-54 rout against Yale. Siena had not lost three straight games by 20 or more points since the 1994-95 season.
Siena never led against Yale, and the Bulldogs pulled away with a 12-0 run early in the second half.
Coach Carmen Maciariello said the Saints need to translate the work they do in practice to their games.
"To not be able to finish plays or have guys outwork us, that's the one thing we can't have," Maciariello said. "So where's that disconnect from? Really working hard in practice and trying to outwork your teammate, to now having a team that wants to come in our home arena and beat us."
Siena's Jackson Stormo had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Cal Poly transfer Colby Rogers added 18 points.
"I don't think there's any discouragement, at least from my end," Rogers said. "I feel like we're a fairly new team. ... So I kind of look at these losses as growing pains."
--Field Level Media
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