Markel Starks, the most indispensible player on the Georgetown men’s basketball team, was down on the court at Verizon Center clutching his left knee.
The silence in the building was in sharp contrast to the booming decibel level only moments earlier, when the point guard sank a floater in the lane that put the Hoyas ahead for good late in the second half during a come-from-behind 83-71 victory over Providence .
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But not even a hard fall was going to keep the senior averaging nearly 40 minutes out of the rest of this game. Not with a chance for Georgetown to get back to the .500 mark in the Big East and beat an opponent with a winning record in the conference for the first time this season.
Starks (14 points) sat on the bench only briefly before popping out of his chair and re-entering to a standing ovation, and the Hoyas (15-9, 6-6 Big East) didn’t miss a step from there, winning for a fourth straight time and providing even more optimism that an NCAA tournament berth may be in the offing.
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera led Georgetown with 22 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including 2 of 4 from three-point range. The sophomore guard had missed 17 three-pointers in a row before making one in the first half against the Friars (16-9, 6-6), which got 31 points from senior guard Bryce Cotton.
The Hoyas, who beat their longtime Big East rival for the ninth time in 10 games, opened the second half by getting five straight points from Reggie Cameron. The freshman forward pumped faked and stepped inside the three-point line to sink a jumper before making a three-pointer following an offensive rebound by Mikael Hopkins, who passed to his teammate for the open look.
Georgetown reclaimed the lead, 45-43, with 13 minutes 54 seconds to play when reserve center Moses Ayegba scored inside and guard Jabril Trawick made two free throws. Trawick, formerly a starter, has been coming off the bench the last five games since breaking his jaw Jan. 8 in the first meeting against Providence.
The Friars countered right away. Cotton made a three-pointer to give back the lead to Providence, and after Josh Fortune stole the ball and missed a layup, Kadeem Betts was there for the putback while getting fouled. His bonus foul shot extended the Friars’ lead to 49-45.
Smith-Rivera drew the Hoyas within two with a jumper in the lane, but Providence scored the next five, culminating in two foul shots from Cotton for a 54-47 lead with 10:25 to play.
Georgetown rallied though behind an 11-3 run that began with Starks sinking a three-pointer and closing with his floater in the lane to put Georgetown ahead to stay at 6:39. That’s also when he remained on the court before getting up and gingerly walking to the bench.
During a season in which he joined Georgetown’s 1,000-point club, Starks reached another milestone Monday when he sank a step-back three-pointer from the left baseline in the first half. That basket yielded the 148th three-pointer of his career, moving him into a tie for eighth in program history.
Starks was honored before Saturday afternoon’s game for becoming the 44th player at Georgetown to score 1,000 points in his career.
The Hoyas’ second-leading scorer this season began a 12-1 run in the first half with a jumper, and his three-pointer moments later produced a 20-15 advantage. Reserve forward Aaron Bowen followed with a three-pointer, and after Smith-Rivera made two foul shots and a jumper, Georgetown had moved in front, 27-15.
But Providence came back thanks to Cotton. The second leading scorer in the Big East made a three-pointer, three foul shots and another three-pointer over two minutes while the Hoyas went without a point during that time.
Cotton wasn’t done yet either. The 5-foot-11 senior closed the half with 10 consecutive points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 36-32 lead. His teammates, meantime, went 0 for 11 from the field over the last 15 minutes of the first half.
While Cotton was scoring virtually at will, the Hoyas were doing anything but after opening the game with an energy level that had the crowd on its feet almost immediately after tip-off. Georgetown went without a field goal over the final seven minutes and missed 3 of 8 free throws in that span.
