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Sumner’s 22 points lead No. 8 Xavier past Georgetown 88-70

Edmond Sumner, Konstantinos Mitoglou, Cornelius Hudson

Xavier’s Edmond Sumner (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

AP

WASHINGTON (AP) Xavier broke open a tight game by making 12 of its first 13 shots after halftime, and Edmond Sumner finished with a career-best 22 points, leading the eighth-ranked Musketeers past slumping Georgetown 88-70 on Saturday.

Getting set to take on top-ranked Villanova in its next game, Xavier (24-3, 12-3 Big East) played far better than during a home loss to Georgetown a month ago.

After shooting only 35 percent in that setback, the Musketeers wound up at 54 percent Saturday, including the near-perfect stretch to open the second half. After leading 35-33 at halftime, Xavier scored 13 consecutive points coming out of the break and eventually went ahead by as many as 21.

Georgetown (14-14, 7-8) has lost three straight and six of seven. The Hoyas were led by D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera with 18 points.

Sumner was among four Musketeers in to score in double figures, with James Farr adding 14 points, Trevon Bluiett 13, and J.P. Macura 12.

That allowed Xavier to cover up a quiet game from Myles Davis, who turned in the school’s first triple-double since 2011 in its previous game but had zero points at halftime and finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

Georgetown did manage to make this game interesting for a segment of the opening 20 minutes, just like the Hoyas did while beating Xavier 81-72 on Jan. 19. That time, Georgetown was one of only two teams to outrebound Xavier this season; on Saturday, the Musketeers led 33-30 in that category, helping set up a 16-5 edge in fast-break scoring.

When Macura made a jumper from the top of the key, then rose above a crowd for a putback, and Sumner tacked on two free throws, Xavier concluded a 19-4 surge for a 27-16 lead. Georgetown helped the visitors by starting 1 for 10 on 3-point attempts and giving away seven turnovers before Xavier committed its first.

But then the Hoyas righted themselves for a bit, using a 15-4 run - thanks to two 3s by Reggie Cameron and seven points from Smith-Rivera - to pull even at 33-all with 75 seconds remaining in the half.

Farr’s two free throws put Xavier barely ahead at halftime, a lead that would soon grow much more comfortable.

TIP-INS

Xavier: Xavier improved to 22-0 when leading at halftime this season. ... Davis crumpled to the court after colliding with a teammate in the second half and left briefly but returned.

Georgetown: Since scoring a career-high 21 points on 7-for-11 field-goal shooting against Xavier in the teams’ earlier meeting, sophomore G Tre Campbell has scored a total of 18 points and made only six shots in nine games. He went scoreless in five of those games. ... C Bradley Hayes is sidelined by a broken left hand. His replacement in the starting lineup, freshman Jessie Govan, scored five points against Xavier after having 27 in his previous game.

UP NEXT

Xavier hosts No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday.

Georgetown hosts Butler next Saturday.

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich