Georgetown 63, Notre Dame 47
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Otto Porter Jr. scored 19 points and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 14 as Georgetown stunned No. 24 Notre Dame 63-47 on Monday in a rare home loss for the Irish.
The Irish fell behind by as many as 17 points early, trailed by 13 at halftime and saw the Hoyas beat back several second-half challenges in a Big East clash in front of a raucous crowd of 9,149 at Purcell Pavilion.
Moses Ayegba added 10 rebounds for Georgetown (13-4, 3-3), which had dropped five of six previous meetings at Purcell Pavilion since 2003.
Pat Connaughton scored 12 points for Notre Dame (15-4, 3-3), which suffered only its third loss in its last 50 home games.
Jerian Grant had 11 points while Jack Cooley collected 10 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame.
The Irish had nearly erased a 13-point halftime deficit with 12:23 left when Connaughton's layup trimmed the Hoya lead to 40-37.
But Smith-Rivera scored eight points over a two-minute span and Porter added two jumpers as Georgetown extended its lead to 52-37 with 6:20 to play.
By the 4:51 mark the Hoyas were working on an 18-0 run that opened a 58-37 lead and many in the quieted crowd started to depart into a snowy South Bend night.
The Irish were plagued by poor shooting all night, ending 16-of-48 (33.3 percent) from the field and were outrebounded 35-24. The Hoyas, meanwhile, were 24-of-45 (53.3 percent).
The Irish set a sluggish early tone, missing their first four shots and going 2-of-8 (25 percent) through the game's first 8:22.
Georgetown, meanwhile, built a 17-8 lead behind 10 quick points from Porter. He was perfect across the board, going 3-of-3 from the field -- including two 3-pointers -- and was 2-of-2 on free throws.
Porter had five points in an 11-0 run as the Hoyas opened a 21-8 lead with 10:21 showing.
But Georgetown hit a cold spell with three straight misses and a turnover while the Irish temporarily shook off their offensive doldrums. Connaughton launched a 13-4 Notre Dame run with a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left. Less than five minutes later, the Georgetown lead was down to four at 25-21.
The surge stopped right there. Georgetown closed with nine unanswered points -- including a Porter buzzer-beater -- for a 34-21 halftime edge.
NOTES: Hoyas coach John Thompson III continues to succeed without a senior in sight. He has 10 freshmen and sophomores on the 15-man roster, including sophomore Porter. He landed on the Big East honor roll this week after averaging 20.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and a 59.3 percent shooting from the field last week ... Notre Dame junior guard Eric Atkins also earned Big East weekly honors as he averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 steals as the Irish split a pair of conference contests ... The Irish rank third in Big East scoring with a 74.6 per game average and seventh in scoring defense (61.7 points). Georgetown was 14th in scoring (64.1 points) but second in scoring defense (56.3) ... Both teams resume play with noon Saturday dates. Georgetown hosts Louisville while Notre Dame is at South Florida.
