Georgetown lost their second conference game of the season, falling to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden 61-58. The Hoyas were unable to stop Dwight Hardy, as he scored a game-high 20 points and got to the basket with effortless ease against the Georgetown defenders.

The Hoyas were led by Hollis Thompson, the only Georgetown players in double figures with 16 points. Georgetown’s Big Three of Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Jason Clark combined to shoot just 28% from the field and score only 20 points, well below their season average of 46. The loss drops the Hoyas to 1-2 in conference play for the third time under Coach Thompson, while the Red Storm improve to 3-0.

Georgetown held a three point lead midway through the half, but St. John’s then went on a 15-2 run that spanned eight minutes to lead by as many as nine A three-pointer by Chris Wright cut the lead to six at the break, 32-26.

The Hoyas tied the game early in the second half, and the game was back and forth the rest of the way, with neither team able to break the game open. Georgetown was hampered by their turnovers, committing 14 to just four for the Red Storm. Even still, the Hoyas were in a position to pull out a win, as Jason Clark hit two free throws to put the Hoyas up by one with under thirty seconds to go. However, coming out of a timeout, Dwight Hardy drove to the basket and drew three Georgetown defenders. His shot missed but Justin Brownlee was there to score the easy put-back with ten seconds left. Austin Freeman had his shot partially blocked, and on the ensuing rebound Clark was ruled to be out of bounds, and the Hoyas lost to the Red Storm for the third time in four tries.

Georgetown now faces a critical home game against West Virginia on Saturday, running the risk of going 1-3 in conference play for the first time since the 2003-04 season, the last year of Craig Esherick’s tenure. Tip-off is at 12 PM at Verizon Center.