Bryant, Mountaineers upset No. 9 Hoyas

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP)

Darryl "Truck" Bryant and Kevin Jones are making life a bit easier for coach Bob Huggins on a young West Virginia team that has few other scoring options.

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Bryant continued his hot stretch of late with 25 points and West Virginia ended No. 9 Georgetown's 11-game winning streak with a 74-62 victory on Saturday.

Bryant didn't like the way he played in the first half, when he went just 2 of 8 from the floor. But he scored 19 points after halftime as the Mountaineers broke open a close game.

''I just came out focused at halftime,'' Bryant said. ''The coaches were talking to me but I didn't say anything to anybody. I just had one thing in mind — to come out here and help this team win the game.

Jones, the Big East's leading scorer and rebounder, had 22 points and 16 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season for West Virginia (12-4, 3-1 Big East), which now has to travel to No. 8 Connecticut on Monday.

Georgetown came back from 17 points down to beat No. 20 Marquette on Wednesday night but couldn't overtime a double-digit deficit against the Mountaineers, who shot 60 percent (12 of 20) from the floor after halftime and beat the Hoyas for the fifth consecutive time.

''Our attention to detail, particularly on the defensive end, was not where it was supposed to be,'' Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. ''Most of it was our turnovers. They got a lot of easy baskets off our turnovers.''

Hollis Thompson, who is no relation to his coach, led Georgetown (13-2, 3-1) with 20 points. Jason Clark, who had 26 points in the Marquette win, was limited to 10 on Saturday — six below his team-leading average. Henry Sims also had 10 points.

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The Mountaineers limited Georgetown's back-door cuts near the basket and forced the Hoyas into taking outside shots. West Virginia held a 37-31 rebounding edge and never trailed in the second half, using a flurry of free throws in the final two minutes to put the game out of reach.

Georgetown has been relying on freshmen for scoring help this season but the Hoyas didn't get their first points from off the bench against West Virginia until Jabril Trawick made two free throws with eightminutes left.

Bryant is arguably playing the best basketball of his career, at least from a scoring viewpoint. The senior entered the game averaging 18 points and has reached 25 points in three of his last four games.

''He doesn't surprise me at all,'' Jones said. ''He's just playing at such a high level now. He's just got that confidence going.''

Jones and Bryant combined for 21 of West Virginia's 29 first-half points, but some of the Mountaineers' seven freshmen came alive down the stretch. Reserve freshman Gary Browne scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime.

Jones' layup broke a 31-31 tie three minutes into the second half to give the Mountaineers the lead for good.

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Bryant made two free throws to give West Virginia its largest lead at 62-49 with 4:36 remaining.

''I thought he was really good in the second half,'' Huggins said. ''He forced things in the first half and he's not good when he forces things. Once he let the game come to him, he played really well. He's bought into being a leader.''

Bryant and Jones, along with center Deniz Kilicli, are the only Mountaineers remaining from the Final Four team two years ago.

''KJ is special,'' Huggins said. ''... People need to enjoy watching him because it has been a long, long time since we have had a guy put up the numbers like he is putting up.''

Georgetown turned up the defensive pressure and scored nine straight points, capped by Otto Porter's layup following a turnover that trimmed the Hoyas' deficit to 62-58 with 2:26 left.

Georgetown managed just one field goal the rest of the game. West Virginia, ranked second-worst in the league in free-throw shooting, hit 10 consecutive in the final two minutes to finish off the Hoyas.