Andreas Jeninga/The Hoya Sophomore forward Brandon Bowman lays down a dunk. Bowman led Georgetown in scoring with 20 points, 16 of which came in the second half.

The Georgetown men’s basketball team rolled over another early-season opponent Saturday, winning 71-53 over Davidson.

Coming into the game, Davidson had one major weapon: long-distance shooting. But their shots did not fall Saturday, and the Hoya defense forced 26 turnovers as Georgetown (6-0) led most of the game.

“I think that’s the best we’ve played this year,” Head Coach Craig Esherick said.

Sophomore forward Brandon Bowman scored 20 and senior guard Gerald Riley had 19, combining for an offensive 1-2 punch that the less-athletic Davidson did not have much of a chance to defend.

But it was Georgetown’s defense that seemed to keep Davidson (2-4) at bay.

“We have a very good defensive team when we want to be good,” Esherick said. “We have to work on some things offensively, and I still think we have to become a better rebounding team. But that was a heck of an effort on defense, and that’s what won the game.”

Davidson had a 36.8 field goal percentage for the game and shot 32 percent from beyond the three-point line. Nine of the ten players they used attempted at least one three-pointer.

“They hit a couple jump shots, but they didn’t hit as many as we expected them to, and I think that had to do with our defense,” sophomore point guard Ashanti Cook said.

Georgetown played a man-to-man full court pressure defense for almost the entire second half, after using some zone presses in the first half.

“What I was most concerned about was their three-point shooters,” Esherick said. “They set very good screens, and so I didn’t want to play much zone.”

Yet again, Georgetown struggled on the boards. They were outrebounded 41-33, and Riley and Cook were the leading rebounders, grabbing nine and eight respectively. Starting center Courtland Freeman had just two.

“We have to get rebounding from some body, because we’re going to be a team rebounding team this year, not an individual, like a Mike [Sweetney] getting 15,” Esherick said.

There were stretches where Georgetown turned Davidson’s turnovers into easy baskets on the other end, often led by point guard Cook, who had a team-high five assists. But the Hoyas perhaps could have taken even more advantage of their superior athleticism and run more fast breaks.

“We have an awful lot of quickness, and we’ve used it this year so far on defense,” Esherick said. “But I don’t think we’ve gotten to the point yet where we’ve used it the way we can on offense. I think if we learn how to use our quickness on offense, we’re going to be dangerous.”

Bowman had 16 of his 20 points in the second half.

“Coach told me in the fist half that I was pressing the issue on offense,” Bowman said. “So in the second half I let the game come to me.”

Georgetown as a team has had trouble in the first half against weaker opponents, but on Saturday they came out to a strong start and got better as the game went on. It took the Wildcats 6:17 to score, and they missed their first eight shots and committed seven turnovers.

The Hoyas play at noon on Dec. 13 against Elon at MCI Center.