St. John’s was so focused on shutting down Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson that the Red Storm allowed Nate Lubick to remind everyone why he’s in Georgetown’s starting five.

The sophomore forward contributed in every facet of the game, notching eight rebounds, seven points, five assists and four blocks, as the No. 12 Hoyas (19-5, 9-4) defeated the Red Storm (10-15, 4-9) at Verizon Center, 71-61.

“I think that Nate’s hustle today gave us a lot of energy,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “His effort was very good and we needed it. You could see him going after the rebounds and the blocked shots.”

Lubick had the lowest average in both points and minutes per game of the Blue and Gray starters, but made his presence felt Sunday, particularly in the final minutes.

With the Hoyas clinging to a 59-53 lead and less than four minutes remaining, Lubick swatted away a shot by freshman forward and Big East rookie of the year contender Moe Harkless. Lubick then grabbed a crucial offensive rebound of a Clark miss to keep the play alive, resulting with in a three-point play for Clark that increased the lead to 62-53. The Johnnies couldn’t get closer than six points after that play.

“Things obviously didn’t go our way in the first half, so I just wanted to come out and bring a bunch of energy, offensively and defensively,” Lubick said.

“I’m always confident in Nate,” Clark said. “He was terrific on both ends of the court. He did what he was supposed to do, and when he does that, we’re pretty good.”

After being trounced by the Hoyas a month ago at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s overcame an sluggish start to stay within striking distance the entire second half. Harkless was fouled midway through the second half and hit both free throws to cut Georgetown’s lead to a single basket, 44-42.

“He’s tough to guard; he can score a lot of different places on the court,” Thompson III said.

Then, Lubick helped the Hoya answer again. The 6-foot-8 forward found sophomore guard MarkelStarks in the corner for an open three-pointer, and the Hoyas were back up five.

“We tried to take Clark out of the game, and Thompson, but we can’t take everyone out of the game,” St. John’s assistant coach Mike Dunlap said. “[Lubick] is just one of those guys who gets the job done for Georgetown, and they’re one of the top-20 teams in the country….They made some tough threes, some deep threes, and we said that’s the poison we’re going to pick.”

The Red Storm provided another intense game for the Hoyas, following the latter’s tough-to-swallow 64-61 overtime loss at rival Syracuse on Wednesday night. Clark and St. John’ freshman forward Amir Garrett had some words early in the second half, resulting in a technical for bother players. Garrett would later get tangled up with freshman forward Otto Porter in the final minutes of the game as the two struggled for a rebound.

The Hoyas had one of their better offensive performances of the season, shooting 49 percent from the field, dishing out 17 assists on 24 baskets and seeing five players – Clark, Thompson, Porter, Starks and freshman forward Greg Whittington – score in double figures. Whittington led the Hoyas with 12 points, while Harkless and freshman guard D’Angelo Harrison scored 24 and 20 points, respectively, for the Red Storm. Harrison was particularly troublesome for the Hoyas, shooting 5-of-12 from long range.

“I thought we did a poor job there – [Harrison] kept getting open shots,” Thompson III said.

The Hoyas struggled from three-point range for much of the afternoon — the 30 percent clip was well below their season average — but hit three of their final five shots from beyond the arc to ice the game.

“We stayed focused, we had open shots, and we knocked them down,” Clark said.

The Hoyas move into sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings with the victory, and will face league cellar-dweller Providence on Saturday. Georgetown defeated the Friars, 49-40, in an ugly win at Verizon Center on New Year’s Eve. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Providence’s Dunkin Donuts Center.