For about 35 minutes of Saturday’s game, Seton Hall’s press gave No. 6 Georgetown fits and kept the Pirates within striking distance. But when Patrick Ewing Jr. decided to take matters into his own hands, Seton Hall could not stop the senior forward, who registered six points and two assists in a span of two and a half minutes to put the game out of the Pirates’ reach in the Hoyas’ 73-61 victory. “Coach said, `I need you,'” said Ewing, who finished with a career-high 16 points. “He asked me, `Are you tired? Cause you looking tired. I need that energy today.’ “He was like, `You need to be more vocal, and you need to do some things on the floor. Make something happen, we gotta pull this game out,'” Ewing continued. “My teammates had my back, and I was fortunate enough to score some points and find some open cutters, stuff like that, and kind of took the game from there.” Ewing started off a 13-2 run for Georgetown with an assist at 5:11, launching the ball from well outside to freshman guard Austin Freeman in the low post for an easy basket. Then, with 2:25 remaining in the game, Ewing bounced a soft pass to senior guard Jonathan Wallace while he was cutting inside along the baseline for another easy basket. “Once [Ewing] started being more aggressive, it opened up to Jon to get that backdoor or Austin to the backdoor or me to the backdoor,” said junior guard Jessie Sapp (17 points). Seton Hall had come as close as five points with 6:49 left, but Ewing slammed an emphatic dunk on a fast break with 3:38 remaining to put Georgetown up 59-48, hammering the nail in the Pirates’ coffin. “We were right in it – we got it down to four [at 11:36]. And then all of a sudden you miss a couple and they, they go to their strengths, which is inside,” Seton Hall Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez said. “Unless you can cut into that lead, it’s hard to change the outcome. . When they’re up 10, it’s like being up 20 against somebody else.” The Hoyas’ victory improves their record to 18-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big East. Georgetown ended a five-game winning streak for Seton Hall (15-7, 5-4), but Gonzalez saw a silver lining in his team’s effort. “I think actually we made a statement today by coming in here and playing Georgetown tough for 33-34 minutes and losing by 12,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t believe in moral victories. You never want to lose a game. But they’re the No. 1-picked team in this league and we’re picked 13th.” Gonzalez had put together a three-pronged strategy to pick apart Georgetown based on trends that he noticed throughout the season, but the components never really fell into place. First, Gonzalez thought that the Pirates could hamper the Hoyas by fouling them, considering that Georgetown was only shooting 63.8 percent from the line on the season. The Hoyas, however, connected on 25-of-31 free throws Saturday. Ewing, who entered the game shooting only 57.5 from the stripe, made 7-of-8. “I don’t think we’re a poor free-throw shooting team. I don’t really worry about what other people worry about,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. “We make foul shots. I’m not worried about that.” Second, Gonzalez wanted to take advantage of his team’s speed to make baskets in transition, but Georgetown’s defense made adjustments to check Seton Hall’s fast break and keep its scoring output 20 points under its 81.8-point average. In fact, the Pirates only made 25 percent of their shots in the first half, and shot 35.8 percent from the field overall. Finally, Gonzalez hoped that his team would pull down rebounds to prevent Georgetown from getting extra chances, explaining, “We thought they were more vulnerable than last year’s Georgetown team which had [Jeff] Green.” The Pirates, however, ended up being on the wrong side of a 49-21 rebounding margin. The most effective tool that Seton Hall used against Georgetown was actually its full-court press. The Pirates were able to force the Hoyas to turn over the ball 21 times during the game – an anomaly for a Georgetown team that ranks 16th in the country with just 12.0 turnovers per game. “Obviously, 21 turnovers with 10 assists is not indicative of our team. It never has been and it never will be,” Thompson said. “We were just too careless.” What could be considered indicative of Georgetown’s team, however, was the play of senior center Roy Hibbert. Hibbert scored on two of his signature hook shots early in the game, and he went on to tally 16 points and nine rebounds. Ultimately, Gonzalez said that the hardest part of facing Georgetown was that the team had a response for every strategy that he drew up. “They’re very methodical, and you know what it is? They’re not going to beat themselves,” Gonzalez said. “You have to beat them. You have to play well enough to beat them. They’re not going to beat themselves. And we didn’t play good enough today to beat them, to be honest.” With half of the Big East schedule in the books, Georgetown next takes on South Florida Tuesday at the Verizon Center. The Bulls (10-11, 1-7) are tied for last place in the conference. Free throws: – Sophomore forward DaJuan Summers started the game after suffering a high ankle sprain a week ago at West Virginia and missing Wednesday night’s game against St. John’s. – Seton Hall senior forward Brian Laing led all scorers with 24 points. – The Hoyas have not lost a game in the Verizon Center all season. Georgetown’s winning streak at home stretches back just over a year ago to Jan. 24, 2007. – Reggie Williams (CAS ’87), who starred for the Hoyas during their success in the mid-1980s, was one of six alumni recognized at halftime for their induction into the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame. Williams ranks third in Georgetown career points (2,117) and sixth in career rebounds (886).