CINCINNATI — Tre Campbell scored a career-high 21 points — 17 in the first half — and Georgetown’s front line held its own as the Hoyas built a double-digit lead in the second half and held on for an 81-72 victory over No. 5 Xavier on Tuesday night.
The Hoyas (12-7, 5-2 Big East) pulled ahead, 39-33, at halftime behind Campbell’s big game and led by as many as 11 in the second half while sending the Musketeers (16-2, 4-2 Big East) to their first home-court loss of the season.
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 20 points for Georgetown, including 15 in the second half.
Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 18 points.
Xavier had won all three games against Georgetown last season, including a matchup in the semifinals of the Big East tournament. The Hoyas’ front line dug in and got a different result, outrebounding Xavier, 39-35.
Xavier and Purdue were the only teams that hadn’t been outrebounded in a game this season. Xavier led the Big East in offensive and defensive rebounding.
The Musketeers shot a season-low 35.8 percent from the field.
Freshman Edmond Sumner was back as Xavier’s starting point guard and scored 10 points. He missed three games with a concussion and came off the bench to score 15 points during a 74-66 win at Marquette on Saturday.
Xavier had trouble stopping 7-foot center Bradley Hayes at the outset. He made his first three shots as the Hoyas kept it close. Hayes picked up his third foul with 7:42 left in the first half. He was their leading scorer with six points when he left because of the foul trouble.
Sumner hit his first two shots from beyond the arc and two free throws as Xavier pulled ahead, 27-20. Georgetown went to a zone defense to slow the Musketeers, who are third in the Big East with 80.1 points per game.
Campbell picked it up after Hayes went out. He hit four 3-pointers in the final 6 minutes of the half, giving him a career-high 17 points, as the Hoyas pulled ahead, 39-33. The sophomore guard hit five of six shots from beyond the arc.
Campbell’s reverse layup gave the Hoyas their first double-digit lead at 46-36.
Bluiett struggled through an off-night, going only 6 of 16 from the field, but hit a baseline jumper and his first 3-pointer as Xavier cut the lead to 51-49. Smith-Rivera hit two 3-pointers as Georgetown built the lead to 11 points.
Xavier never got closer than six points the rest of the way.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.