Georgetown's Jabril Trawick dunks during the first half NCAA college basketball game against St. John's, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)
NEW YORK – Otto Porter had 19 points and a season-high 14 rebounds and No. 19 Georgetown broke out of its scoring funk with a 67-51 victory over St. John's on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Martel Starks had 17 points for the Hoyas (11-3, 1-2 Big East), who had lost two straight games and scored 48 points in both. There was plenty of offense from them in this game as they continued their great defense in taking a 36-19 halftime lead after being up by as many as 33-10.
Georgetown reached 48 points with 13:36 to play and it had a 21-point lead. The Hoyas' biggest lead of the game was 26 points.
The Hoyas, who came in allowing 55.7 points per game and 38.7 shooting from the field, improved those numbers with the suffocating defense they have played all season. They outrebounded St. John's 48-33.
Jamal Branch had 16 points and JaKarr Sampson added 12 for the Red Storm (9-7, 1-3), who have lost three straight and four of five with the lone win coming at then-No. 14 Cincinnati. For the second straight game St. John's hurt itself at the free throw line. The Red Storm went 15 of 27 at the line this week in a two-point loss to Rutgers. On Saturday, they were 6 of 16.
St. John's missed 13 of its 16 3-point attempts with the three makes coming in the final 2:09. The Red Storm came into the game shooting 32.4 percent from beyond the arc, 11th in the Big East.
Georgetown played without sophomore forward Greg Whittington, who missed the game for a violation of team rules. No details were provided.
The 6-foot-8 Whittington had started all 13 games and is second on the team in scoring (12.1) and rebounding (7.0).
Georgetown avoided its first 0-3 start in the conference since 1998-99.
It was the Hoyas' fourth straight win in the series and the 10th in the last 13 games. The teams play again on Feb. 2 in Washington.
It was the fewest points St. John's scored in a half this season and it was the biggest halftime deficit the Red Storm faced this season by five points.
Chris Obekpa's six blocks gave him 82 for the season, breaking the tie with Walter Berry for the St. John's season record of 76.
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