Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn were difficult for Georgetown to contain as No. 10 Providence held off several second-half charges for a 73-69 victory over the Hoyas on Saturday night.
Bentil and Dunn each scored 26 points as the Friars (18-4, 6-3 Big East) held off a Hoyas team looking to pull off its second victory over a top-10 team in the past two weeks.
Rodney Bullock had 10 points and 14 rebounds for Providence, which had no other player score more than six points.
Georgetown (13-9, 6-3 Big East), which erased an 11-point deficit to beat Creighton earlier in the week and defeated No. 5 Xavier on Jan. 19, couldn’t pull off the same magic.
L.J. Peak led the Hoyas with 19 points, while D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 18 points and Bradley Hayes added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Providence and Georgetown combined for 34 turnovers. That started early as the teams missed 11 of their first 12 shots.
That only lasted until Providence got the ball into Bentil’s hands. Bentil scored the Friars’ first seven points before yielding the floor to Dunn.
When the inside game wasn’t available, Dunn took over and had Providence rolling until Georgetown found Hayes inside for a handful of hook shots to tie the score at 19-19. It was the last time the Friars didn’t have the lead.
With Bentil making his first six shots from the field and Dunn driving to the basket at will, Providence went on an 11-2 run to bust the game open. Bentil and Dunn outscored the Hoyas, 29-28, in the first half.
Georgetown turned the ball over on four of its first five possessions following halftime, and Providence’s lead grew to 12 points. A 13-2 run cut Providence’s lead to one point and brought life back to the crowd at Verizon Center, but each time Georgetown drew close, the Friars answered.
Peak cut Providence’s lead to three points twice in the final minute, and Smith-Rivera hit a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left, but Bentil went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute.
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