National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Georgetown 74, Belmont 59
When: 3:10 PM ET, Friday, March 16, 2012
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Officials: # Tim Kelly, # Joe Lindsay, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance: 17030

Georgetown 74, Belmont 59: Jason Clark scored a game-high 21 points and the Hoyas squashed Belmont’s upset hopes with a dominant performance in the NCAA tournament’s Round of 64 in Columbus, Ohio.

Otto Porter had 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for third-seeded Georgetown (24-8), which advances to play No. 11 North Carolina State on Sunday. The Wolfpack defeated sixth-seeded San Diego State 79-65 on Friday.

Belmont entered the game averaging 81.5 points, but the 14th-seeded Bruins (27-8) were unable to generate consistent offense against Georgetown’s stifling defense. Blake Jenkins scored 17 points and Ian Clark added 12 for Belmont, which fell to 0-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

Coming off back-to-back opening-round upset losses in the tournament, Georgetown eliminated any chance of another early exit by shooting 61.2 percent (30 of 49) from the field and holding Belmont to 38.9 percent.

The Hoyas outrebounded the smaller Bruins 30-22, though Belmont did make 10 of 27 3-pointers. After Belmont took an 8-7 lead three minutes into the first half, Georgetown never trailed again and led by double digits for most of the game.

Game Notebook: The loss snapped the Bruins’ 14-game win streak… Among the Belmont fans in attendance was country singer Vince Gill, a close friend of Belmont coach Rick Byrd… The game was a rematch from the first round of the 2007 NCAA tournament, when Georgetown beat the Bruins 80-55…The win was Georgetown’s first in the NCAA tournament since 2008…The Hoyas' Henry Sims had 15 points and five assists; Clark was 9 of 12 from the field, and made three 3-pointers.
Top Game Performances
 
Belmont   Georgetown
Blake Jenkins 17 Scoring Jason Clark 21
Kerron Johnson 6 Assists Nate Lubick 5
Blake Jenkins 5 Rebounds Otto Porter 8
Scott Saunders 4 Free Throws Made Henry Sims 5
Blake Jenkins 2 Steals Jason Clark 2
N/A Blocks Greg Whittington 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Belmont 59 38.9 10-27 7-11 16 22 0 3 9
Georgetown 74 61.2 5-12 9-13 14 30 3 2 12