A recruiting class full of potential showed their worth Saturday at Verizon Center. In the season opener, the freshman class lived up to its hype in Georgetown’s (1-0) 83-62 win against the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers (0-1). Led by forward L.J. Peak, the Hoyas’ five freshmen all received playing time and combined for 42 points.

After losing two starters — point guard Markel Starks and forward Nate Lubick — to graduation, Saturday’s team was a shell of last year’s disappointing team.

“We are a totally different team than we were last year,” Head Coach John Thompson III said postgame.

The new, win-now mentality was confirmed from the moment the starting lineups were announced. In a move that ran counter to much of the prevailing punditry, freshman L.J. Peak received the start at small forward over senior Aaron Bowen — the first Georgetown freshman since center Greg Monroe in 2008 to start in the first game.

Peak’s introduction into the lineup signaled a shift to an up-tempo offensive strategy and a departure from their usual Princeton offense.

“They really hurt us in transition in both halves,” St. Francis Head Coach Glenn Braica admitted postgame.

It was a complete team effort, as 11 Hoyas played five or more minutes and any minor hiccups were masked by Peak’s memorable debut. The South Carolina native finished with a game-high 23 points on a perfect 9 – of- 9 shooting. “The natural scorer,” as Thompson described him, brought energy and swagger to the Hoyas in his 26 minutes of playing time.

Peak’s energetic performance was epitomized by a thunderous tomahawk dunk early in the second half. The dunk capped a 12-3 run, which extended Georgetown’s six-point halftime lead to 49-34.

After his debut, even Braica acknowledged that Peak “is pretty good.”

Big East Preseason Player of the Year junior co-captain and guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera contributions, however, should not be overlooked. Although Georgetown’s leading scorer from a year ago only managed eight points, he accrued nine rebounds and six assists. These atypical contributions perhaps demonstrate that he can co-exist with the Hoyas’ now diversified group of scoring threats.

Thompson was hesitant to call Smith-Rivera the “de-facto point guard” and noted that he does have “a lot of things he has to work on.”

Despite the convincing victory, Thompson acknowledged that there were areas for the Hoyas to improve. Most alarmingly St. Francis Brooklyn pulled down 22 offensive rebounds in a scrappy game.

“It was a horrible job of rebounding today. Twenty-two boards … can’t happen,” Thompson said.

The Hoyas had a clear height advantage over the mid-major Terriers. Georgetown has three regular rotational players, including 6-foot-10-inch senior center Josh Smith, who are taller than St. Francis’ tallest athlete, 6-foot-7-inch junior forward Antonio Jenifer. Despite this physical advantage, the Hoyas were outrebounded by five, 45 to 40, on the day.

“[St. Francis Brooklyn] were staying in the game because they were getting second shots,” senior forward Mikael Hopkins, who led Georgetown with 10 rebounds, said postgame.

Lackluster, too, was Smith’s performance. In his final season of a turbulent college career, Smith is expected to make good on his endless potential. He showed flashes of that potential today, but ultimately he spent much of the game in foul trouble and produced an underwhelming stat line. In 19 minutes, Smith managed 10 points, but just two rebounds — both offensive boards of his own missed shots.

Thompson was least pleased with the senior’s performance, calling Smith’s play “unacceptable.” If the Hoyas are going to make any noise this season, they need Smith to clean up his defensive play, both in rebounding and preventing unnecessary fouls.

“We are going to have shaky periods,” Thompson assured the gathered reporters postgame.

However, Saturday’s game was the beginning of an era for the Hoyas. Senior guard Jabril Trawick, who had 11 points in the win, was excited to see the freshman class make its mark in the opening game.

“We don’t have freshmen … we have basketball players,” Trawick said.

Georgetown will continue its early-season homestand when it hosts Texas A&M, Corpus Christi (1-0) at Verizon Center tonight at 7 p.m.