Clinging grimly to the hope of an NCAA tournament berth, Georgetown dominated No. 13 Creighton from start to finish en route to a 75-63 win Tuesday night.

Many analysts thought the Hoyas (17-12, 8-9 Big East) had to beat the Bluejays (23-6, 13-4 Big East) to keep their tournament chances alive, a message Georgetown heeded with urgency from tip off.

After playing evenly with Creighton for the games first seven minutes, Georgetown accelerated on a pair of three pointers from junior guard Jabril Trawick and then padded the lead with seven straight points from sophomore guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera.

“Georgetown had been getting off to quick starts,” Creighton Head Coach Craig McDermott said. “We had a hard time taking them out of offensive flow in first half.”

With senior guard Aaron Bowen and junior center Mikael Hopkins taking turns guarding Creighton standout — and national leading scorer — Doug McDermott, the senior was limited to just six points in 18 first-half minutes.

“[Hopkins and Bowen] are two great defenders,” the younger McDermott said. “Hopkins is one of the more physical defenders I’ve ever faced.”

As the Hoyas held the Bluejays to just 40.7 percent from the floor, Georgetown accelerated at the other end, hitting five of 10 three-point attempts and limiting themselves to just four turnovers en route to a 42-28 halftime lead.

Creighton found more of a rhythm after halftime, clawing back to within nine — 59-50 — with just over eight minutes left in the game. McDermott also began to break free from Hopkins and Bowen’s defense, scoring 16 points in the second half.

The Bluejays came up with three critical three-pointers to keep the game close but senior guard Markel Starks had an answer every time, none more so than his pass in traffic to Bowen who connected on for an easy layup to give the Hoyas a 68-61 lead with just over a minute to go.

Consistent free throw shooting in the stretch extended that margin, with Trawick, Hopkins, Smith-Rivera and Starks all finishing in double figures for scoring. Smith-Rivera also chipped in 12 rebounds for a double-double.

Starks was a force to be reckoned with in his final game at Verizon Center, scoring 17 points and dishing out 11 assists against just a single turnover.

“Markel is a player we are going to miss,” Thompson III said after the game. “This is his last home game but we are hoping to play quite a few more games with him in a Georgetown uniform.”

Starks, a native of the nearby Acokeek, Md., grew emotional in the postgame press conference.

“I’m a worker. I’m going to come bring my lunch pail everyday. I went through some tough times here,” Starks said. “That’s part of maturity, that’s part of becoming a man.”

Fellow senior Nate Lubick, on the other hand, went out with more of a whimper than a bang. Sidelined with two early fouls, Lubick scored just three points and grabbed two boards in only eight minutes on the floor.

Next up for Georgetown is a Saturday test at No. 6 Villanova. The Wildcats narrowly bested the Hoyas, 65-60, Jan. 27 in Washington.

From there, it will be on to the Big East tournament in New York as the Blue and Gray try to prove their worth to the NCAA selection committee.

“I think we’re at a point now where we can stay with this group and we know how to skin the cat,” Thompson III said. “We’ve just got to go do it.”

Tip-off at the Wells Fargo Center is set for 2 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.