MEN’S BASKETBALL GU Tops WVU Riley Scores Career High By Sean Gormley Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Sophomore forward Mike Sweetney dunks against West Virginia. He was named Big East Co-Player of the Week.

The Hoyas regularly turn to sophomore Mike Sweetney to provide a spark on the floor, but it was a different sophomore forward that ignited Georgetown to victory over West Virginia on Saturday.

Gerald Riley scored a career-high 21 points, including the first seven points of the second half that gave Georgetown the 19-point cushion the Hoyas rode to an 84-77 victory over the Mountaineers in front of 11,279 at MCI Center.

“There were bits and pieces of that game where I thought we played really well,” Head Coach Craig Esherick said.

The Hoyas suffered a scare at the end of the game, allowing the ountaineers to cut the lead to seven.

“When we got up by 22, some of the substituting I did resulted in us relaxing. You can not relax against any team in our league,” Esherick said.

In the first half, Georgetown (14-7, 5-4 Big East) built its lead largely thanks to the Riley-Sweetney combo, who scored 27 of their 48 combined points before the break. With senior point guard Kevin Braswell spending most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble and freshman shooting guard Tony Bethel largely ineffective, the Hoyas went inside against the smaller ountaineers.

Undersized in the middle, West Virginia (8-12, 1-7 Big East) simply assaulted Georgetown’s big men all afternoon, resulting in 29 Mountaineer fouls and 42 free throws by the Hoyas (versus six for West Virginia).

“We could shoot 80 free throws. Mike gets fouled an awful lot,” Esherick said. “I wish I could say what I want about that, but I can’t because I want to be able to coach the [Notre Dame] game.”

When the referees were blowing their whistles, Georgetown took advantage, sinking 33 of 42 free throws (79 percent) with Sweetney leading the way, netting 11-of-13 from the line.

Despite the substantial advantage inside, Georgetown was unable to pull substantially ahead of West Virginia. After building an early 11-point lead, the Hoyas were burned by sensational ountaineer freshman Jonathan Hargett for five points in a span of 30 seconds to cut the lead in half.

A mini-flurry built the Hoya lead back to double digits at halftime, but the game was still very much in doubt. At this point, Riley shone his brightest, exploding for seven points in the opening two minutes of the second half to break the game wide open.

Despite this, the Mountaineers continued to fight and narrowed the lead to seven points with 1:27 to go in the game, largely thanks to four three-pointers from West Virginia guard Lionel Armstead in the closing minutes. Despite Armstead’s hot hand, the Mountaineers were never able to cut the lead enough to put the game in doubt, and Kevin Braswell sealed the win by sinking seven of eight free throws in the closing minute and a half.

“West Virginia made some good shots when we let up a little, which we shouldn’t have,” Gerald Riley said. “We need to learn from this game.”

Despite the second-half lapse, Georgetown can take away a number of things from the game, not the least of which is Riley’s career-best performance: eight rebounds and four steals in addition to his 21 points, which included a perfect 4-of-4 from the line and 3-of-4 from downtown.

“Gerald is a very good shooter,” Esherick said about his starting small forward. “I knew it was just a matter of time before he was shooting the ball well.”

“I’ve been working on my shot a lot – that’s helping me out,” Riley said. “I’m feeling better, but I’m not going to put any blame on my wrists,” which have been bothering him since a hard fall earlier in the season.

In addition to Riley’s breakout game, Braswell had a quiet but solid performance despite sitting more than usual due to foul trouble. The senior co-captain finished with nine points and six assists to just one turnover.

The Hoya freshmen were not as sharp on the court, however, with Tony Bethel, Drew Hall and Harvey Thomas finishing a combined 2-of-14 from the field with six turnovers. Thomas’ playing time was partly reduced as the result of Riley’s breakout game, while Hall was sidelined in the first half with foul trouble much like Braswell.

Georgetown will have a full week to rest before returning to the hardwood when Notre Dame comes to town on Saturday (noon tip-off at CI Center). The Fighting Irish have won three straight games since losing to the Hoyas in South Bend on Jan. 21 and will face Rutgers tomorrow before visiting Georgetown.

“They will be ready to play against us,” Esherick said of Notre Dame, who defeated Georgetown in last season’s matchup in D.C.

“We have to come out and play Georgetown defense,” Gerald Riley said about the remaining Big East schedule. “We do that, and everything else will fall into place.”