Zach Freemantle had 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and No. 8 Xavier held off pesky Georgetown 95-82 in Big East action Saturday in Cincinnati.
Freemantle made 12 of 19 shots, including two 3-pointers, en route to his third double-double in his last five games.
Colby Jones added 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Musketeers (16-4, 8-1), who also got 14 points from Adam Kunkel and 10 from Souley Boum.
Primo Spears scored a career-high 37 points and dished out 11 assists for the Hoyas (5-15, 0-9), who have lost their last 29 league games, their last 19 road games and their last 10 games overall. Akok Akok had 14 points, 10 boards and three blocks.
Georgetown made its first three shots of the second half to pull within 48-45 and stayed close until Spears was whistled for a flop with 9:29 left, which gave the Musketeers a free throw, the ball and much-needed momentum.
Boum made the free throw and Freemantle buried a triple on the ensuing possession to push Xavier’s lead to 76-64.
Jones’ jumper gave the Musketeers their largest lead of the day at 85-67 with 6:36 to play.
Georgetown trimmed its deficit to 91-82 after a dry spell by the Musketeers, but Kunkel’s layup on the subsequent possession effectively sealed the win for Xavier.
The Hoyas shot 50 percent from the field but committed 13 turnovers and Xavier held an overwhelming 25-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Musketeers also had no trouble getting the ball inside against the Hoyas as they routinely found seams down the lane and poured in 52 points in the paint compared to Georgetown’s 20.
Xavier finished with 31 assists on 39 field goals and shot a healthy 54.9 percent from the field, including 8 for 14 from distance.
The Musketeers powered to an early 11-point lead, but Spears scored five of his 17 first-half points during an 11-0 Hoyas run that knotted the game at 24-24.
Xavier countered with a 9-0 surge over the next two minutes, only for Georgetown to answer with an extended 14-5 stretch capped by Bryson Mozone’s 3-pointer that knotted the score at 38-38.
–Field Level Media