No. 5 Georgetown Downs William & Mary, 68-53

Hibbert comes alive to finish with 23 points and eight rebounds

Nov. 10, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - It took Roy Hibbert and his Hoyas a while to get going in their opener Saturday.

After unveiling a banner commemorating last season's Final Four appearance, No. 5 Georgetown and its star center started slowly before Hibbert came alive to finish with 23 points and eight rebounds in a 68-53 victory over William & Mary.

The final score doesn't indicate how tight this game was.

William & Mary led for long stretches in the first half, by as many as five points, and Georgetown only pulled away late. The Hoyas (1-0) never held a double-digit lead until Jonathan Wallace's 3-pointer with under 4 1/2 minutes left made it 58-48.

Wallace wound up with 15 points, going 4-for-7 on 3s, and Jessie Sapp contributed 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. Add in Hibbert's 9-for-11 shooting and DaJuan Summers' 10 points, and those four starters combined for all but two of the hosts' points.

Laimis Kisielius led William & Mary (0-1) with 16 points, all in the first half.

The Hoyas got off to a slow start last season, opening 4-3 with a loss to Old Dominion mixed in, but things turned out pretty well by March - Big East regular-season and conference championships, then the long run at the NCAA tournament.

Still, it was surprising to see Georgetown struggle early against William & Mary, which went 15-15 last season and has lost 29 consecutive games against ranked opponents, a drought that dates to 1977.

William & Mary scored the game's first five points, while Hibbert was quiet. His first touch came more than 2 minutes into the game, and when he went to the sideline for his first breather about 5 1/2 minutes in, he had zero field-goal attempts and zero rebounds.

His first shot came midway through the first half, a jumper from the top of the key that rattled in to tie the game at 20.

It was a different story in the second half. On Georgetown's very first possession, the ball went inside to Hibbert, who scored to make it 37-30.

After David Schneider's 3-pointer pulled the Tribe within 47-45 with less than 10 minutes remaining, Wallace found his big man inside right away, and Hibbert put the ball in off the glass. Georgetown went back to Hibbert each of the next two times down, also, and his baby hook made it 53-46 with 6 1/2 minutes to go.

He was aggressive on defense, too. Early in the second half, Hibbert blocked a shot by the 6-8 Kisielius without leaving his feet, and the pair of players traded smiles going back down to the other end of the court.

William & Mary led 28-27 with just under 5 minutes left before halftime on Chris Darnell's layup. With Hibbert on the sideline with two fouls, Wallace took over, getting a steal that led to Sapp's 3-pointer, then making a jumper and 3-pointer himself to help the Hoyas take a 35-30 lead at halftime.