Three days after laying a goose egg at Pittsburgh, Kevin Pittsnogle dropped 25 points on Georgetown as ninth-ranked West Virginia rallied for a 69-56 win Sunday night at MCI Center.

The loss – the Hoyas’ first at home since November – ended a seven-game win streak and knocked Georgetown (17-5, 8-3) into a tie with Pittsburgh for fourth place in the Big East.

Much like the previous meeting between these two teams, a 68-61 ountaineer win at Morgantown, W.Va., on Jan. 11, Georgetown opened up a sizable lead in the first half only to watch it wither away in the second.

After being down by eight at intermission, the Mountaineers outscored the Hoyas 40-19 in the second half, including 14-of-17 shooting from inside the arc. Georgetown has not had such a poor offensive showing in one period since Illinois held the Hoyas to 13 first-half points in a 58-48 loss on Dec. 8.

But it wasn’t the West Virginia defense that was the problem so much as Georgetown’s inability to shoot well. The Hoyas shot a miserable 24 percent in the second half and made just one of five free throw attempts, all of which were taken by sophomore Jeff Green.

“The way [the Mountaineers] play you, you have to make shots,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “You have to make shots against them because everything that goes inside, they have two or three guys running at you and force you to throw it out and see if you can make shots. And tonight, uncharacteristically we missed.”

It was not so in the first half. Shooting almost 60 percent from the floor, the Hoyas mounted a 15-0 run, turning a four-point deficit into a 33-22 lead. The run featured sophomore Jon Wallace’s only baskets of the night – a layup and a three-pointer – as well as back-to-back fast-break dunks by seniors Brandon Bowman and Darrel Owens. Georgetown shredded West Virginia’s 1-3-1 defense and took full advantage of three ountaineer turnovers.

“They torched our zone,” West Virginia Head Coach John Beilein said. “We couldn’t get out of it quick enough. They were just absolutely terrific against it. . I sat in the first half and my head was spinning. They were playing so well and we didn’t have answers. I just looked and I said now I know why they beat Duke.”

West Virginia narrowed the lead to 37-29 by halftime, but it was clear that the Mountaineers would have to try a different defensive approach to cool down the Hoyas.

Beilein opted for man-to-man in the second half. Coupled with Georgetown’s cold hand, it proved to be the right decision. Only Green, who had 14 of his team’s 19 second-half points, managed to be effective.

The Mountaineers stormed out on a 10-0 run to open the second half. The Hoyas kept the game close, but were never able to take back any sizable lead. A three-pointer by Green gave Georgetown a 47-46 advantage at 11:16, but he then missed two free throws and committed a turnover on his team’s next two possessions.

Down 54-51 five minutes later, the Hoyas had several chances to bounce back. Instead, they went 0-for-5 on the ensuing possessions despite three turnovers and one missed shot by the ountaineers.

Out of a timeout, senior guard J.D. Collins hit a wide-open Pittsnogle under the basket for an easy layup. Georgetown resorted to three-pointers, missing all six attempts in the game’s final three minutes, and the team’s hopes for a third-straight win against a top 10 team slowly withered away.

“We went through a stretch – which we’ve done early in games, but we haven’t done too much late in games – where we just kept taking threes instead of going to the basket,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “We got wide open looks for our guys who can make shots. The ball just didn’t bounce our way tonight.”

MCI Center had been electric during the Hoyas’ first-half run. But as the Mountaineers rallied back, West Virginia fans made their presence known from the upper decks. Thousands of the 16,263 attendees sported blue and yellow, not blue and gray, and they heckled Green during his free throws and chanted “Overrated” as the clock ran down.

Both Green (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Bowman (15 points, 11 rebounds) ended the game with double-doubles, though Bowman already had 13 by halftime. Owens added 10 points.

Sophomore Roy Hibbert spent most of the game on the sideline, as Thompson chose to match up the quicker Green against Pittsnogle. Hibbert had two points in 12 minutes.

Seniors Mike Gansey and Johannes Herber put up 13 points each for the Mountaineers.

After the game, Beilein made a point of lavishing praise upon the Georgetown squad his team had just beaten.

“I am in awe of them. I just think that they’re very, very good. I thought they were misjudged in the preseason,” he said. “They were right there to get in the NCAA Tournament last year, and they finished ahead of us [in the Big East]. . We don’t know if we’ll play them again. We don’t want to play them any more. Let somebody else take them.”

Marquette (16-8, 6-5) will take on Georgetown at the Bradley Center on Thursday. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m.