College Basketball

Smith-Rivera leads Georgetown over DePaul, 70-53

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:17 p.m. ET

foxsports

NEW YORK (AP) D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and Georgetown pulled away from DePaul for a 70-53 victory Wednesday night in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Smith-Rivera, a second-team All-Big East selection and the fifth-leading scorer in the conference with a 16.3 average, took over in the second half, scoring 11 points in the Hoyas' 16-2 run that gave them their first 18-point lead of the game, 55-37 with 8:56 to play.

The eighth-seeded Hoyas (15-17), who snapped a six-game losing streak, will face top-seeded and third-ranked Villanova in Thursday's quarterfinals.

Bradley Hayes and L.J. Peak both had 10 points for Georgetown, which shot 50 percent for the game (23 of 46) while holding the Blue Demons (9-22) to 37.9 percent (22 of 58). The Hoyas were third in the conference this season in field goal percentage defense (41.1).

Eli Cain scored 14 points to lead the ninth-seeded Blue Demons, who end the season on a four-game losing streak. DePaul has lost eight of its last nine Big East Tournament games.