Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Sophomore guard Ashanti Cook went 4-4 from the line in the Hoyas’ 83-36 rout of the Grambling State Tigers.

For the Georgetown men’s basketball team, who will face No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Duke and defending national champion Syracuse later in the season, a season opener against Grambling State may not have been strenuous preparation for the tests of January, but it was a chance to have a little fun.

As the Hoyas romped to an 83-36 win Tuesday, they had to like the way the cupcake crumbled.

Senior guard Gerald Riley made three three-pointers in a row as part of Georgetown’s opening 15-0 run, easily shooting over Grambling’s zone. Riley finished the game with 24 points, having shot 8-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-5 from behind the three-point line.

“Gerald was really shooting the heck out of the ball,” Head Coach Craig Esherick said. “[Grambling Head Coach] Larry [Wright] hasn’t had a chance to see us, and we haven’t had a chance to see them, so I think he was in that zone because he thought it would be effective.”

The Hoya’s sharp shooting (61 percent from the floor) made things look easy, but the offense also showed strengths that will come in handy against the Connecticuts and Dukes of the world. Their passing was excellent, and although they did not run the fast break to perfection, they made up for it with their shooting in the half-court offense.

The Hoyas were able to take advantage of Grambling’s poor defense, and the Tigers also shot just 17 percent in the first half. Only two players made field goals.

“I thought the key to much of what we did was our defense,” Esherick said. “If you play tough defense, it will jumpstart your offense.”

Grambling did not have a chance after the first half, when Georgetown was up 58-16, although it did make some progress in the second period when the Hoyas’ bench came in.

Freshmen guards Matt Causey and Ray Reed played 19 and 21 minutes respectively and were “a little nervous,” Esherick said. Causey had four points, three assists and two turnovers, while Reed turned in seven points, one assist and one turnover.

Freshman forward Sead Dizdarevic and red shirt freshman forward Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw turned in fairly similar performances, playing 12 minutes each. Dizdarevic was 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Grambling’s shooting improved to 31 percent in the second half, and the mostly-reserve Hoyas outscored them just 25-20. The Tigers did outrebound the Hoyas in the second half, 17-15.