March 5, 2011

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CINCINNATI, Ohio - Senior guard Austin Freeman (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha) scored 21 points and sophomore forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) added 12, but it wasn't enough as No. 17 Georgetown closed out the BIG EAST regular season with a 69-47 loss to Cincinnati in front of 12,197 fans at Fifth Third Arena Saturday afternoon.

It was the third-straight loss for the Hoyas, who end the regular season with a 21-9 overall mark and a 10-8 record in the BIG EAST Conference, while the Bearcats improve to 24-7 overall and 11-7 in league play. That loss, combined with a loss by Connecticut to Notre Dame, clinches the No. 8 seed and a first round bye for the Blue & Gray in the BIG EAST Tournament. The Hoyas will play their first game in the BIG EAST Tournament on Wednesday, March 9 at noon, against the winner of a game between the No. 9 seed and DePaul.

Georgetown had used a 15-9 midway through the second half to pull to within four points, 43-39, on a three-pointer from Thompson with 8:42 to play in the game, but a 12-0 run by Cincinnati - keyed by a pair of three-pointers from Sean Kilpatrick - gave the hosts a 55-39 lead on a layup from Cashmere Wright with 6:09 to play.

The Hoyas struggled from the field, shooting only32.1 percent from the floor (17-of-53) and 22.2 percent from three-point land (4-of-18), and hit only one field goal in a span of 6:20 until Freeman's driving layup made it 55-41 with 5:34 to play.

Cincinnati scored the first four points of the second half and took its biggest lead, 34-24, on free throws from Yancy Gates early in the second half. The Hoyas, however, used an 8-2 run over 4:20 and pulled to within 36-32 on a pair of free throws from Freeman with 13:26 left in the game. After a missed shot from UC, the Hoyas had three chances on their end, but could not convert and Larry Davis hit a three with 12 minutes left to give the Bearcats a 39-32 lead.

Georgetown went into the half trailing by six points, 30-24, when Gates banked a three-pointer in at the buzzer after the Hoyas had cut a seven-point lead (25-18) down to three points after a pair of Freeman free throws.

Both teams struggled out of the box, with six missed shots and two turnovers in the opening three minutes save for a jumper from Thompson that tied the game at 2-all. Georgetown would hit four of their next six shots over a span of 3:12 and took a 12-4 lead, and forced Cincinnati to call a timeout, on a driving layup from Freeman at the 13:17 mark.

Cincinnati, however, used a 7-0 spurt to pull within 12-11 on a layup from Anthony McClain, but Freeman responded with a three from the right wing as GU extended its lead back to four points, 15-11. The Bearcats scored five-straight points to take a 16-15 lead on one of two free throws from McClain, but a three from Clark wrested the lead back for Georgetown, 18-16, with 7:31 to play in the half.

The Hoya went without a field goal for the next 6:02 as UC used a 9-0 run and opened a 25-18 lead on free throws from Ibrahima Thomas with 2:51 left in the half. Thompson ended the scoring drought at 1:29 with a pull-up jumper and the Hoyas trailed only by five points. A jumper from Freeman made it 25-22, but he was assessed with a technical foul and two free throws from Dixon made it 27-22. Freeman hit two free throws with three seconds left to narrow it to 27-24, but the three from Gates gave UC a 30-24 lead.

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