No. 17 Hoyas come back to edge No. 9 Pittsburgh

Georgetown allowed Aaron Gray to look like the next coming of Patrick Ewing in the first half. In the second half, Pittsburgh’s 7-foot center didn’t even score.

Hoyas coach John Thompson III went to a matchup zone to stop him on the offensive end, and he pulled Gray away from the basket on defense by using Jeff Green as a point forward. Those moves allowed the 17th-ranked Hoyas to overcome a 15-point first-half deficit and survive a late rally for a 61-58 victory over No. 9 Pittsburgh on Sunday in Washington.

“I think we did show a lot of poise, particularly in the last part of the first half,” Thompson said. “We could have became a little frazzled.”

Green matched his career high with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting, and Brandon Bowman scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half for the Hoyas, who have two victories over Top 10 teams during their six-game winning streak. The other came on Jan. 21 over then-No. 1 Duke.

The victory also moved Georgetown into sole possession of fourth place in the Big East and ended a four-game home losing streak to the Panthers.

Georgetown nearly blew a 10-point lead in the final 39 seconds, and Pittsburgh’s Ronald Ramon missed a long but wide open 3-pointer at the buzzer that could have sent the game to overtime.

Gray scored all of his 15 points in the first half and went 0 for 4 with three turnovers against the matchup zone in the second. He also finished with 11 rebounds. Carl Krauser and Ramon each added 11 points for the Panthers.

(10) George Washington 80, Richmond 55: At Washington, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Danilo Pinnock each scored 16 points and Mike Hall added 15 to lead the Colonials to their 10th straight win. George Washington took control of the game with a 19-4 run on the way to a 33-18 halftime lead.

(18) N.C. State 62, Maryland 58: At Raleigh, N.C., Tony Bethel made two 3-pointers and two free throws down the stretch, helping the Wolfpack hold off the Terrapins despite making only five field goals inside the arc. Bethel finished with five 3s and 17 points, and Cameron Bennerman added 11 points for the Wolfpack.

Kansas 59, (19) Oklahoma 58: At Lawrence, Kan., Brandon Rush scored 18 points and the Jayhawks wiped out a 16-point second-half deficit to beat the Sooners. Mario Chalmers, one of three freshmen starting for Kansas, scored in the lane with 19 seconds left just a few seconds after Michael Neal’s 3-pointer had given the Sooners a one-point lead in a rematch between the defending Big 12 co-champions.