The Georgetown Hoyas began their 2008-09 Big East opener with an 18-3 run, but it was an even more critical 24-10 run late in the second half which propelled the Hoyas to a convincing 74-63 victory over the #2 ranked Connecticut Huskies.

Georgetown hadn’t won a road game at UCONN since 1997, but the bad history didn’t affect the Hoyas’ focus. Freshman Greg Monroe had an excellent start in his first career Big East game, as he collected three assists, a steal, and his first collegiate three-pointer all in the first six minutes. Monroe led a balanced attack for Georgetown, as four players finished in double figures. The defense was perhaps more impressive than the offense, as the Huskies were held to their lowest first half scoring output of the season. Georgetown led 36-27 at the intermission.

In the second half Connecticut was more aggressive, Monroe got into foul trouble, and the lead was trimmed to three with just under 13 minutes to play. From that point the Hoyas slowly pulled away, eventually establishing their largest lead of 17 with under five minutes remaining. During the decisive run the Hoyas did most of their damage at the free throw line. For the game, Georgetown missed their first three attempts from the line, but proceeded to make 18 in a row to finish the game 18-21. DaJuan Summers led all scorers with 18 points, and Greg Monroe and Chris Wright each added 16 in the first Big East regular season game for both.

With the victory, John Thompson III is 5-0 in Big East regular season openers. Georgetown improves to 10-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play, and returns home to the Verizon Center on Saturday to face another Top 5 opponent – the Pittsburgh Panthers. Tip off is set for noon.