Wright, Freeman lead Georgetown over DePaul

With a gaggle of NBA talent evaluators crowding the baselines - a group that included Bulls general manager Gar Forman and Matt Lloyd - Georgetown showed why it ranks No. 13 nationally and why DePaul needs much more than Mac Koshwal and Will Walker.

"Those two guys are the heart and soul of their team," said Georgetown coach John Thompson III.

Meanwhile, the Hoyas trotted out a starting five with heart, soul, body and mind to wear down the Blue Demons.

Georgetown shot 57 percent from the floor and placed four starters in double figures to earn a 67-50 Big East victory Sunday afternoon before perhaps 5,000 at Allstate Arena.

More important than Georgetown's offense, though, was the unfair collision between the Hoyas' fabled defense and DePaul's two-man offense.

Koshwal, forced to battle future NBA lottery pick Greg Monroe and other large Hoyas, delivered 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Walker, trying to pick up the slack when Georgetown packed the middle and limited Koshwal to 2 shots after halftime, finished 3 of 14 from the floor.

Everyone not named Koshwal combined to shoot 12 of 39 (31 percent) for the game.

"Somebody (else) has got to make a shot," said DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright.

Reserve forward Mario Stula made both of his 3-point attempts - one early and one during junk time - but didn't stay on the floor due to mental lapses.

Starting forward Eric Wallace, in Wainwright's estimation, looked more relaxed than he had all year and contributed 8 points with 5 rebounds. But his baskets consisted of three spectacular dunks and one putback.

Starting guard Mike Stovall, who appeared to be getting things together with a monstrous outing against Texas State shortly before Christmas, found a permanent seat on the bench after missing 3 increasingly wild shots in the opening minute of the second half.

All of these issues mattered because DePaul's 21st consecutive Big East regular-season defeat wasn't a foregone conclusion from the opening tip.

Though the Blue Demons (7-7, 0-2) never led, they threw a scare into Georgetown (11-1, 2-0) late in the first half.

During one spectacular 71-second stretch with Monroe resting on Georgetown's bench, Koshwal posted up for a layup on a nice look from Walker.

Then the 6-foot-10 junior center drove the lane for a short running bank. Then Koshwal deflected Julian Vaughn's baseline jumper, outsprinted the Hoyas downcourt and caught Walker's nice half-court bounce pass in stride for a layup.

"He's very good. Also really strong," Vaughn said. "I felt in the first half, he kind of outworked me a little bit."

DePaul clung within 27-25 with 3:37 left in the first half, but that's when the Hoyas took over.

They reeled off the final 8 points of the half and proceeded to limit DePaul to 9 points over a 15-minute stretch that included 22 Demons possessions.

It didn't help that Georgetown turned several of DePaul's misses and turnovers into transition baskets. The Demons trailed by double digits for the final 14:16.

"I know it's the same old song and I don't mean it to be," Wainwright said. "But it's really hard to keep defending and keep hanging in there when you don't score.

"And we had a prolonged drought in the second half where the game got away from us."