Jan. 25, 2001

Box Score

By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON - Reserve center Wesley Wilson scored 18 points as No. 10 Georgetown recovered from a slow start and put the game away early in the second half of a 79-62 victory Thursday night over UNLV.

The Hoyas missed their first seven shots and trailed by 10 points within five minutes, but Wilson started the comeback, and strong offensive rebounding had Georgetown ahead 41-35 at halftime. The Hoyas opened the second half with an 11-3 run, forcing three quick turnovers and holding the Rebels to one field goal over five minutes.

Georgetown (17-1), playing its last non-conference game of the season, rebounded from its only loss, a 70-66 defeat to Pittsburgh last Saturday. UNLV (11-8), also wrapping up its non-conference schedule, has lost three of four after winning seven straight.

Forward Dalron Johnson led UNLV with 18 points before leaving with a sprained his left ankle midway through the second half.

Lou Kelly and Kaspars Kambala had 15 points each for the Rebels, who are 0-3 against ranked teams. Kambala, UNLV's inside force, was not a factor during Georgetown's decisive run and didn't score in the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second half.

UNLV had a 13-3 lead before Wilson, one of two Hoyas who played for Rebels interim coach Max Good in high school in Maine, scored Georgetown's first three baskets. The deficit was gone when Mike Sweetney put back an offensive rebound with 10:10 remaining in the half to tie the score at 19.

Wilson had three of Georgetown's 13 offensive boards in the first half and had nine points at the break - despite three fouls that limited him to eight minutes.

After shooting just 39 percent in a half-court first half, the Hoyas picked up the tempo at both ends and continued to dominate inside. Gerald Riley, Sweetney and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje all scored in the paint at the start of the second half.

The Hoyas led 68-47 before four straight baskets before the Rebels cut the lead to 13 points. But UNLV never got within single figures thereafter, and Wilson ended the scoring with a dunk just before the final buzzer.