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Georgetown has way with foe

— Georgetown forward Greg Whittington stole the ball on the perimeter and dribbled up court, slowing slightly once he reached the lane to size up a defender, who was closing in on him.

Whittington dunked, anyway.

There was little Longwood could do as No. 15 Georgetown cruised to an 89-53 victory Monday night.

Otto Porter scored a career high 22 points, added 7 assists and 4 steals and returned after taking an apparent hit to the head during the second half.

The point total for Georgetown (8-1) against Longwood (2-8) was much bigger than the Hoyas managed in two of their previous three victories. They beat Tennessee 37-36 and Towson 46-40 around a 64-41 victory over Texas.

“When you look at that last game, the ball didn’t go in, and so you have to fix that,” Georgetown Coach John Thompson III said. “But most of the looks we got were wide open shots.

“It wasn’t a question of movement within the offense. Our guys just put the ball in the basket a little bit today.”

Porter went to the bench with 13:46 left, holding his hand to his face. He took a hit to the head during the Hoyas’ season-opening victory over Duquesne and missed the next game with “symptoms indicative of a mild concussion.” But unlike against Duquesne, Porter didn’t leave the court area, and fans gave him a noticeable ovation when he returned a few minutes later.

After the game, he laughed off the injury.

“I just caught an elbow from my teammate going for the rebound,” Porter said.

Before Porter left the game, Georgetown already had built a sizable lead.

Markel Starks was 4 for 5 from three-point range and had 17 points for the Hoyas while Whittington had eight points.

The Hoyas used a 17-5 run over the first four minutes of the second half to pull away, forcing several turnovers in the process. Their 30 turnovers forced were the most since Elon turned the ball over 32 times Dec. 13, 2003. Seven Longwood players had multiple turnovers.

“It’s a team effort in the wrong direction,” Longwood Coach Mike Gillian said.

Georgetown has won five consecutive games and appears likely to stretch that streak to seven before Big East play begins. They Hoyas will host Western Carolina and American before playing at Marquette on Jan. 5.

In its first game against Longwood, Georgetown boosted its record against Big South Conference teams to 13-0 and extended its overall winning streak to five games. Longwood falls to 0-7 against Big East teams and 0-8 against ranked opponents since playing its first full Division I schedule in 2004-05.

Jeylani Dublin led Longwood with 10 points.

Sports, Pages 22 on 12/11/2012

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