The Georgetown men’s basketball team (3-0) cruised to its third straight win on Saturday, downing Robert Morris University (2-3) 80-66 in front of a home crowd at the Verizon Center.

The Hoyas, who took the early lead and never surrendered it, made their journey to victory look easy against a smaller and less physical Robert Morris squad. Senior center Josh Smith continued to dominate under the basket, recording his second double-double in two games with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman forward L.J. Peak scored 12 points, becoming the first Georgetown player since Greg Monroe to score in the double digits in the first three games of his career as a Hoya.

Another bright spot for the Hoyas was the early involvement of junior guard D’vauntes Smith-Rivera, who, after a disappointing game against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, played for 30 minutes and scored 12 points against Robert Morris.

The starting five players for Georgetown was the same lineup as the previous two games of the season: Smith, Peak, Smith-Rivera, senior forward Mikael Hopkins and senior guard Jabril Trawick.

Two early three-pointers from Trawick helped the Hoyas to a 12-4 lead only five minutes into the game, but during the next five minutes, the Hoyas scored only five more points as they struggled to find a way around the Colonials’ 2-3 zone.

“I think we have to get better, there’s no doubt about that,” Head Coach John Thompson said about his team attacking the zone. “I think we were too stagnant. We had good perimeter passing that ended up with open shots.”

The Hoyas did indeed have their fair share of opportunities from the arc, attempting 22 three-pointers compared to only 12 in their last game. Though only six of Georgetown’s attempts were successful, the players’ ability to find open shots on the perimeter suggests that their ball movement was effective.

Thompson, too, was optimistic about his team’s passing and shot selections.

“Shots that we missed today that I think we are going to make over the course of the long haul,” Thompson said.

At the half, the Hoyas led 36-24 and had outrebounded their Northeast Conference opponents 25-10. Georgetown boasted eight players over 6 feet 5 inches compared to Robert Morris’ four players at that height, making it no surprise to either side that the Hoyas were able to dominate the boards.

“I think that their size and strength wore on us over the course of the game,” Robert Morris Head Coach Andrew Toole said. “For example, Jabril Trawick would play a four or a five in our league. Sometimes guys like us just don’t have the physicality that a team like Georgetown has.”

The Blue and Gray jumped out to a fast start after the break, going on a 19-5 run highlighted by a dunk from Smith that brought the small but enthusiastic crowd to its feet.

Smith was efficient in his offense throughout the game. When he received the ball under the basket, he was usually able to score or draw a foul. Smith only missed three shots in his 12 attempts from the field and went to the line four times.

Though his ability to score seemingly at will makes Smith an indispensable weapon for the Hoyas, he played an even more important role in Saturday’s game: helping the rest of the team, especially the freshmen, understand the rhythm of the Hoyas’ offensive scheme.

“We wanted to put [Smith] back in so we could get a feel about how this was supposed to be run,” Thompson said. “Putting him back in at the end has as much to do with everyone getting a comfort level with the sets that we were running.”

Smith played 26 minutes of the game, which is the same amount of time he played against Corpus Christi, but is significantly more time than he was averaging last season.

Thompson says that Smith seeing those minutes is “not a surprise” and that Smith can play as long as he indicates when he needs a break.

Smith-Rivera recorded the most time on the floor with his 30 minutes and was again in charge of running the offense. He led all players with seven assists and notched six rebounds, pulling the third-highest number of rebounds on the team behind Smith and Hopkins.

“I just want to affect the game in every way possible,” Smith-Rivera said. “Everybody has been getting good looks at the basket and getting guys involved is key.”

Smith-Rivera’s 12 points was nothing to scoff at, but Thompson says it’s only a matter of time before he’s racking up even more points.

“Once the smoke clears, he is still going to score. He knows that, I know that, we know that. We are just trying to get settled in,” Thompson said.

While the Hoyas are still settling into its season, some sloppiness is inevitable, as evidenced by the Hoyas’ 15 turnovers.

However, Georgetown’s mistakes were largely eclipsed by its effectiveness in transition and high level of energy. Five minutes into the second half, freshman forward Paul White blocked a Robert Morris shot, allowing Trawick to grab the ball. Trawick slung the ball over to Peak as Peak sprinted up the far side of the court. Peak caught the ball, was fouled on the shot and sunk both free throws to raucous applause.

Another quick pass in transition resulted in Smith unguarded facing an open path to the basket. But the fans were denied another hoop-ratting dunk when he was fouled on the play and went on to shoot 1-2 at the line.

Though the Hoyas’ three wins have come against significantly smaller and less talented teams, Georgetown’s depth and ability to adapt to its opponents bodes well for its chances against better teams waiting just around the corner. Georgetown will have the opportunity to test its strength against Florida in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 p.m.