Georgetown smothers Maryland with defense in renewed rivalry

Malik Mack scored 19 points and Georgetown overwhelmed Maryland with defense in a 70-60 win in the rekindling of an old Washington-area rivalry, Friday in College Park, Md.

In the first meeting of the teams since 2016, KJ Lewis tallied 16 points and nine rebounds, while Caleb Williams added 14 points and 10 boards for Georgetown (2-0), which never trailed.

With their active man-to-man defense, the Hoyas limited the Terrapins to 25% shooting from the floor and 4 of 21 (19%) from 3-point range.

Georgetown blocked 11 shots, with Vince Iwuchukwu credited with three.

Myles Rice scored 19 points and Pharrel Payne added 17 points and 11 rebounds to pace Maryland (1-1) in the home debut for coach Buzz Williams, who took Texas A&M to the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons.

It was the first loss for Maryland in a home opener since 1976. The Terrapins' 48-game streak in opening games at home was the third longest in the nation.

Georgetown opened with a rush, scoring the game's first 11 points before it was 3 minutes old. Julius Halaifonua opened with a three-point play and Lewis added two layups during the sprint.

The rest of the half was trench warfare. While Maryland missed its first nine attempts from beyond the arc, Georgetown went 0-for-8 from deep.

The Terrapins worked their way back by drawing fouls and converting at the free-throw line, with Payne and Rice each making all six of their attempts in the period.

A step-back 3-pointer by Rice with 6 seconds remaining in the half reduced Maryland's deficit to 32-27 at the break.

The Hoyas regained control in the second half as they kept the Terrapins without a field goal for the first 8:23 of the period. During that time, the Terrapins missed nine consecutive shots.

Meanwhile, Mack made a pair of 3-pointers in the first 65 seconds of the period and Williams added another trey.

Georgetown gained its biggest lead of the night, 50-30, on two free throws by Lewis with 12:08 left.

Maryland trimmed the deficit to seven points, but 3-pointers in the final five minutes by Lewis and Mack kept the Hoyas in charge.

--Field Level Media