PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Derek Simpson scored 15 points and Rutgers used a strong defense to defeat Georgetown 71-60 on Wednesday night.
The Scarlet Knights (3-1) had an 11-0 run early in the second half, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Aundre Hyatt, for a 54-36 lead and the Hoyas (1-2) never got closer than 11.
Hyatt and Gavin Griffiths both scored 12 points and Noah Fernandes had 10. The Scarlet Knights were outrebounded 40-29 but they turned 21 Georgetown turnovers into 25 points. Four players had two steals and Clifford Omoruyi had four blocks.
Jayden Epps scored 15 points for Georgetown and Dontrez Styles had 15. They Hoyas shot 35%.
Rutgers never trailed and led by 13 in the first half when Hyatt’s 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run that made it 30-17. But the Hoyas came back with three 3-pointers, the last two by Styles to cut the deficit to 31-29.
Styles it a 3 at the 1:13 mark to make it a one-point game but in the final minute Simpson hit a 3 and Griffiths had a dunk to make it 32-28 at the half.
Styles had 15 points at the break, but the Hoyas had 13 turnovers that Rutgers turned into 14 points, which made up for a 26-15 Georgetown advantage on the boards.
Both teams play at home on Saturday, Rutgers against Howard and Georgetown against Mount St. Mary’s.
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