PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Austin Freeman scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half and No. 22 Georgetown snapped a three-game losing streak with a 74-65 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.
Freeman, the Big East preseason player of the year, returned to form for the Hoyas (13-5, 2-4), who came in 1-4 in the conference, their worst start in 12 years.
The streak ended with Freeman finally having the type of game expected from the senior guard. After scoring a total of 29 points on 10-of-31 shooting in the three losses, Freeman was 6 of 12 from the field, more in line with his 53.7 percent shooting for the season, including going 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Hoyas, who entered leading the Big East in field goal percentage at 50.9, finished 23 of 48 (47.9 percent). Georgetown was 11 of 22 on 3s, including 8 of 12 in the second half.
Gilvydas Biruta had 14 points for the Scarlet Knights (10-7, 1-4), who lost for the fifth time in six games. Rutgers, which beat then-No. 7 Georgetown 71-68 here last season, has lost nine of 10 to the Hoyas.
Chris Wright added 15 points for Georgetown, and Jason Clark had 13.
Rutgers stayed even with Georgetown for most of the first half and trailed 31-25 at halftime.
The Hoyas opened the second half with an 8-1 run that included 3s by Jason Clark and Chris Wright. Seven of their first nine field goals in the second half came from beyond the arc.
The Scarlet Knights responded an 8-0 run to close to 44-36 with 12:24 to play.
Then Freeman took over.
He scored Georgetown's next 11 points, a personal run that included two 3-pointers and three free throws when he drew a foul taking a shot from behind the arc as the shot clock ran out.
Freeman added another 3 with 5:30 left that made it 61-50 and the Hoyas held the lead the rest of the way.
Jonathan Mitchell, who had a career-high 24 points in the upset of Georgetown last season, had 13 points and James Beatty added 12.
Rutgers shot 43.1 percent (25 of 58) for the game, just below what the Scarlet Knights were shooting for the season (44.5), which was 11th in the conference.