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Although Jason Clark has taken his game to another level so far this season, the Hoyas are still looking to role players . like Julian Vaughn (22) . to supply minutes and scoring.

When Georgetown met Savannah State last year in Washington, D.C., the Hoyas beat the Tigers by 62 points. On Saturday in Savannah, Ga., the Tigers turned the tables for the first four minutes, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before Jason Clark and the Hoyas got back on track.

Clark, a sophomore guard, got Georgetown on the board with a three-pointer at the 16:04 mark that keyed a 14-1 run. The Hoyas (3-0) never looked back as Clark’s game-high 14 points – also a career-high – led Georgetown to a 63-44 win over Savannah State (2-2).

Inserted into the starting lineup at the beginning of the season, Clark’s play through three games has shown that he is prepared to become an integral part of the Hoyas’ core. Along with sophomore center Greg Monroe and junior guards Austin Freeman and Chris Wright – Georgetown’s three returning stars – Clark is one of four players to average over 30 minutes played and 10 points per game so far. The closest player in both categories is junior forward Julian Vaughn, who has scored just 3.7 points in 23 minutes per game.

Known for his defensive prowess and hustle as a freshman, Clark has developed into a presence on both ends of the floor. Against Savannah State, Clark shot a blistering 4-of-6 from three-point range, but also grabbed six defensive rebounds. The lanky guard is second on the team with 5.7 boards per game.

“The number of points Jason scores is irrelevant,” Head Coach John Thompson III told reporters after the game. “He plays great defense and he’s a very unselfish player. He’s at the core of what we’re doing this year. He’s going to have a lot more than 14 as we go along.”

After the Tigers opened up a seven-point lead to start the game, Thompson called a timeout and Clark promptly hit a three off of a feed from Vaughn. Clark added another three, a steal and a rebound as the Hoyas built a six-point lead over the next four-and-a-half minutes.

As a team, Georgetown showed marked improvement shooting the basketball from its 46-45 win over Temple a week ago. The Hoyas connected on 53.1 percent of their field goals and hit 7-of-13 attempts from long range. After recording more turnovers than field goals against Temple, Georgetown had 17 assists on 26 field goals.

onroe, Freeman and Wright all scored in double figures, and freshman guard Vee Sanford scored his first career points on a short jumper in the second half. Monroe, saddled with two early fouls, played just 24 minutes and committed five turnovers.

The Hoyas, who held the Tigers to 27.1 percent shooting for the game, held a comfortable 14-point halftime lead and were up by as many as 22 in the second half. With superior size and athleticism, Georgetown outrebounded Savannah State 40-24 and blocked 10 of the Tigers’ shots.

Freshman Hollis Thompson scored just two points in 20 minutes, but the 6-foot-7 swingman grabbed four rebounds, blocked three shots and recorded a steal. He also handed out three assists with no turnovers.

The trip to Savannah was in part due to the Tigers’ coach, former Hoya Horace Broadnax (MSB ’86).

“For us to come down here, it clearly was for Horace because as much as he’s Savannah State, he’s Georgetown also,” Coach Thompson said.

Broadnax was a reserve guard on the Hoyas’ 1984 national championship team and averaged 5.8 points per game over his four year career. He has steadily built Savannah State into a winning program over the past few years. The Tigers, who went 2-28 in Broadnax’s first year, have improved their record in each of the coach’s four seasons and recorded their first Division-I winning record last year. Playing Georgetown, a nationally recognized and ranked opponent, at home helped Savannah State draw 3,176 fans to Tiger Arena.

“This program is going to grow,” Broadnax said after the game. “If we’re going to compete with the Georgetowns of the world, then we’ve got to step it up.”

The Hoyas have a week off from games before Lafayette (3-1) and Mount Saint Mary’s (2-1) visit Verizon Center on Saturday and Monday. Georgetown beat Mount Saint Mary’s 69-58 last year at Verizon Center, and they have not played Lafayette since the 1979-1980 season.

Tip-off Saturday against Lafayette is at noon, and Monday’s game against Mount Saint Mary’s is set for 7:30 p.m.”