Georgetown’s defense clamps down on Wagner

Malik Mack scored 16 points and Micah Peavy added 15 points as Georgetown dominated Wagner with suffocating defense in a 66-41 win Tuesday in Washington.

Thomas Sorber stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks as Georgetown (5-1) won its third straight game.

Wagner (3-4), which is coming off its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 21 years, was no match for the physicality of the Hoyas as it failed to score during an 11-minute stretch that bridged the halves.

The Seahawks shot 28 percent from the floor and made 7 of 19 attempts (36.8 percent) from 3-point range. They committed 18 turnovers, compared to 11 for the Hoyas.

Javier Ezquerra tallied eight points and four assists while Keyontae Lewis, Zaire Williams and RJ Greene each added seven points for Wagner. Lewis pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

The contest was tight for most of the first half. However, after the Hoyas scored the final five points of the first half, they followed with the first 18 of the second period to take a 46-20 lead with 12:34 left.

The 23-0 run was bookended by 3-pointers from Peavy. In between, Peavy added another trey and Drew Fielder added back-to-back baskets including a two-fisted, fastbreak slam.

Fielder finished with eight points, making all four of his shots from the floor.

Georgetown connected on 43.1 percent of its shots from the floor and 7 of 22 (31.8 percent) from distance.

In the first half, there were eight lead changes over the first 13 minutes before Georgetown began to seize control.

After the Hoyas struggled in the slow-paced opening minutes, Mack provided a spark midway through the first half, making a four-point play.

Then when the Hoyas closed the half on a 14-5 run, Mack provided six of the points. To close the half, Mack split defenders with a drive down the middle of the lane to give the Hoyas their biggest lead of the period, 28-20.

In the second half, Georgetown maxed out its advantage when Jordan Burks scored on an alley-oop slam for 36-point lead. Burks finished with 10 points off the bench.