After spending two weeks nationally ranked, No. 15 Georgetown has taken a shine to its new position.

The Hoyas (16-4, 7-2) overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half to take a 10-point lead with one minute left in the game. While the then-No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers (17-3, 6-3) rallied at the close, Georgetown held on for a 61-58 victory in front of more than 13,000 at MCI center on Sunday. The Hoyas have stepped up their winning streak to six games, having taken down two top-10 teams for the first time in almost 10 years. The Panthers, meanwhile, fell to No. 14.

Georgetown has made a habit of dominating play during its recent wins, making runs to put away the game. This time, however, the team strained at points as Pittsburgh’s big man, junior center Aaron Gray, dominated the first half. The 7-foot center scored his 15 points in the first half, taking advantage of Georgetown’s weak rebounding in the first half.

Even while toppling Duke, the Hoyas never fell behind but clung fast to a lead. This time, however, Georgetown needed to fight back after falling into a hole. Despite collapses against other top teams such as West Virginia, this time the Hoyas kept their composure when the going got rough and pulled out a win.

“I thought we did show a lot of poise, particularly the latter part of the first half. We were down 15, we were getting shots but the ball wasn’t going in. But that’s because they are a very good defensive team,” John Thompson III, the Georgetown head coach, said. “We could have become a little frazzled. But we held on there.”

The contest featured a matchup between two of the biggest centers in the Big East: Gray and Hoya sophomore Roy Hibbert. Georgetown’s 7-foot-2 standout took the early edge, putting in the first six points for the Hoyas off some easy layups. But Georgetown’s early advantage soon dissipated as Pittsburgh hit its fair share of shots and evened the score at 13 with 12 minutes remaining.

The Panthers then ran away from the home team during a six-minute Georgetown scoring drought, as the Hoyas flubbed 10 shots. Junior forward Levon Kendall sank a layup with 3:32 remaining to cap a 15-point Pittsburgh run, putting the Panthers ahead 33-18. After a timeout, sophomore forward Jeff Green sank a three-pointer to spark the Hoyas’ counterattack.

Georgetown gained some momentum heading into halftime with a 10-2 concluding run that cut Pittsburgh’s lead by more than half. What looked like an impending blowout became a competitive game, 35-28.

“Their defense really bothered us in the first half even though we were missing shots, they got us off our rhythm,” senior forward Brandon Bowman said.

As has been the case in previous losses, Georgetown rushed its offense throughout the first half. The Hoyas gave up their passing game in favor of quick attempts from three-point territory, with limited success. The team’s 3-for-12 three-point shooting, coupled with a 44-percent field goal percentage, was a decline from the team’s recent victories. Georgetown suffered most under the basket, pulling down eight boards to Pittsburgh’s 19, and grabbing only one offensive rebound.

“We went through a stretch where we were taking too many threes. You fall into a flow sometimes, that just because a shots open doesn’t mean you should always take it,” Thompson said. “We wanted to start looking for more penetration and start looking to slow things down. That kind of opened things up a little bit.”

The Hoyas’ fortunes changed in the second half, as the team picked up on offense and pressed more on defense. Within six minutes Georgetown came within two points of its opponent, 40-38, after a fast break layup from sophomore guard Jon Wallace. Another fast break layup by Bowman tied the score at 45-45. Bowman put Georgetown back in the lead at 9:38 with a three-pointer.

The Hoyas looked to seal the game on a 9-0 scoring run for the last five minutes of the game. Everything seemed in place, as the problems that plagued Georgetown in the first half melted away. Gray’s domination was long gone; he was limited to one point in the second half.

“The first half coach was expressing how our offense was good, we just weren’t hitting our shots; they weren’t falling. We need to pick up our defensive end a little bit, get some more defensive rebounds,” Bowman said. “When it came to the second half, we just started executing what coach said. Our shots started falling; we picked it up on the defensive end a lot.”

Georgetown nearly blew a 59-49 lead with 28 seconds on the clock. Two quick three-pointers from senior guard Carl Krauser and sophomore guard Ronald Ramon struck fear into the hearts of the Hoya fans who had already started for the exits. A fast-break layup from junior forward Levance Fields cut the lead down to one, 59-58, with six seconds remaining.

A repeat of Notre Dame was avoided when Ramon fouled senior guard Darrel Owens. After Owens sank both shots, Pittsburgh was forced into a last-ditch three-pointer. Fortunately for the Hoyas and their fans, Ramon’s wide open shot at the buzzer caromed high off of the back rim to clinch the upset.

“It’s hard for me to be excited with those last couple of minutes there. We didn’t execute well coming out at the very end, but good enough to hold on,” Thompson said.

Green scored a game-high 22 points while Bowman finished with 15 points and four assists. It was Green’s best offensive performance all season and a vindication of sorts, although Thompson has long maintained that Green has been in top form the whole year.

Georgetown held Pittsburgh to 8-for-24 shooting over the second half while hitting 50 percent from the floor.

“Jeff Green did not struggle earlier, he was not scoring points. People have decided that Jeff should score X points and if Jeff doesn’t score X points, he had a bad game. There are very few if any games where I think that Green has had a bad game,” Thompson said. “He has done a very good job knowing what to do and how to help us win.”

St. John’s looms next in the middle of a three-game home stand. While Georgetown dominated the first matchup courtesy of Owen’s three-point prowess, both teams have recently made headlines for upsets over ranked squads, including the Panthers.

For the first time in a while, however, Georgetown has become the team to beat.