It was a win Al Davis would have approved of.

The late Oakland Raiders’ owner was famous for, among other things, coining the phrase “just win, baby,” and that’s exactly what Georgetown’s men’s basketball team (18-8, 10-5) did Saturday night against DePaul (12-16, 6-9 Big East) at Verizon Center. The Hoyas entered the game as heavy favorites, but needed some clutch late free throws to hold onto a 68-63 victory.

Georgetown struggled on the defensive end of the floor in the opening minutes of the game, allowing DePaul to hit six of its first eight shots en route to an early 14-9 lead.

The issues caused Head Coach John Thompson III to call a time out with 13:33 to play in the half where he changed from a man-to-man to a zone defense. The switch immediately began to pay dividends.

DePaul looked flummoxed attacking the new defense. Unable to get the ball inside, the Blue Demons began to settle for contested three-pointers, allowing the Hoyas to find their groove on offense and grab a 28-19 lead with 3:59 remaining in the half.

“[The zone] definitely threw them off a little bit in the first half,” Thompson said.

However, toward the end of the period, DePaul began to figure its offense, taking advantage of the zone’s soft spots in the corners to hit two three-pointers and cut the lead to 30-27 at halftime.

“I thought they got the rhythm of [the zone] a little bit,” Thompson said.

At the beginning of the second half, Georgetown turned to senior center Joshua Smith to carry the load offensively.

“From the very first possession of the second half we made a conscious effort to throw it into [Smith],” Thompson said.

Smith, along with junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, answered the call. The two combined to score the Hoyas’ first 13 points of the period, the last of which stretched the lead to 43-32 with 15:29 to play. Smith finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

“Tonight was one of those nights where my teammates were trying to ride me out and I was just trying to go out there and perform for them,” Smith said.

Entering the game having lost six of its last seven, DePaul could have been expected to fold facing a double-digit second half deficit on the road. Instead, the Blue Demons rallied behind an aggressive full-court press to climb back into the game.

“We probably saw three different presses tonight,” Thompson said. “We were a little tentative and didn’t do a good job of adjusting and figuring out which one they were in.”

The Georgetown lead stood at 52-46 with a little under seven minutes remaining when DePaul senior forward Forrest Robinson seized control of the game, hitting three-pointers on three consecutive possessions. Suddenly, a contest that had seemingly been headed for a relaxing finish was suddenly a one-point ball game.

“There was definitely some miscommunication there,” Thompson said. “When you go into the scouting report you know, that’s what [Robinson] does. We know that’s what he does so we can’t let him get those shots off.”

Although the Hoyas would bend, they did not break. One point was as close as DePaul would come and, thanks to a pair of clutch free throws by freshman guard Tre Campbell with 25 seconds left, the Blue Demons never got the chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute.

Offensive rebounds were one of the keys for Georgetown. The Hoyas grabbed 16 offensive boards — nearly as many as the 19 defensive rebounds DePaul had — and outscored the Blue Demons 18-8 on second chance points.

“We didn’t rebound the ball,” DePaul Head Coach Oliver Purnell said. “Georgetown was really struggling to score on the first opportunity, but they were getting two or three shots.”

Smith-Rivera, who led the Hoyas with 19 points, was not surprised by how tightly the game was contested.

“We knew this game would be tougher than most,” Smith-Rivera said. “[DePaul] was coming out strong looking for a win and we have so much to play for.”

What Georgetown was playing for Saturday night was sole possession of second place in the Big East. The win guaranteed that they would move half a game ahead of Providence (19-8, 9-5 Big East) and No. 19 Butler (19-8, 9-5 Big East) for the time being in the conference standings.

Now, the Hoyas have a week off before travelling to New York to play St. John’s (18-9, 7-7 Big East) next Saturday. Georgetown cruised to a 79-57 victory over the Red Storm at Verizon Center earlier this week.

On Saturday night, it didn’t come as easy for the Hoyas, but in the end it didn’t matter.

They did what they had to do, in the words of Davis: just win.