Young Hoyas hand Louisville first loss

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Georgetown is more concerned with accumulating wins than making statements with 10 freshmen and sophomores on the roster. Sophomore Markel Starks and freshman Otto Porter made sure the Hoyas did both.

Starks scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the second half and Porter came up clutch as No. 12 Georgetown snapped No. 4 Louisville's 20-game home winning streak with a 71-68 victory Wednesday in the teams' Big East opener.

"It was a very good, big win against a very good team in a difficult place to play," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "We aren't worrying about validation right now."

Still, it was another strong performance by a team picked 10th in the Big East. Georgetown (11-1, 1-0) built an 11-point lead before having to hang on to win for the ninth consecutive time.

This was the Hoyas' grittiest effort yet, coming from behind to build a big lead and then held on when Louisville rallied in front of a raucous crowd.

Starks finished 7 of 8 from the field to help Georgetown take control and Porter, who had 14 points and 14 rebounds, made several key plays late that helped the Hoyas fend off the Cardinals.

"When you're in the heat of the battle you're just playing in the flow of the game, shots are going to come," Starks said. "Whether you make them or miss them, those are shots you've got to be able to take."

Louisville (12-1, 0-1) had been one of six Division I teams that came into play Wednesday without a loss. The Cardinals held a tenuous lead through most of the first half and early into the second before the Hoyas' youth movement took over.

Kyle Kuric finished with 17 points and Peyton Siva had 15 for Louisville.

"This is very disappointing. This is our first loss at home. It's sad," Cardinals guard Chris Smith said.

Trailing 63-52, the Cardinals went on an 11-0 run sparked when Russ Smith hit a 3 in the corner. Gorgui Dieng scored down low to tie it with 2:01 remaining.

Porter followed a miss by Henry Sims with a layup, then grabbed a defensive rebound that led to two free throws by Sims that made it 67-63 with 1:12 left. Porter added two free throws to push the margin to six before Smith hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 69-66 with 21 seconds left.

But Porter hit two more free throws to seal it.