Wright (21 points) and Monroe (12 assists) help No. 7 Georgetown beat Providence 79-70

Wright leads No. 7 Georgetown past Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Chris Wright scored 21 points and Greg Monroe had 12 points and 12 assists to lead No. 7 Georgetown to a 79-70 victory over Providence on Tuesday night.

Wright scored 16 points in the second half as the Hoyas (18-5, 8-5 Big East) erased an eight-point deficit.

Jamine Peterson scored 23 points and Bilal Dixon had 16 rebounds for Providence (12-12, 4-8).

Providence led 47-40 with 15 minutes left before Georgetown scored 14 of the next 15 points, getting a three-point play from Wright to tie it and then took the lead with 12 minutes left.

Julian Vaughn scored 19 points for the Hoyas.

Georgetown, which according to the RPI has the most difficult strength of schedule in the nation, was coming off a 103-90 win over then-No. 2 Villanova on Saturday.

But they will get no sympathy from the Friars.

At No. 7, Georgetown is the worst team Providence will play in the next two weeks. Coming up are No. 4 Villanova, No. 5 West Virginia and No. 3 Syracuse. The Friars, who had already beaten No. 19 Connecticut and lost to third-ranked Syracuse, fell to 1-2 against ranked teams.

Providence led by as many as eight points in the second half before Georgetown came back, tying it on Wright’s steal and fast-break layup with 12 minutes left and taking a 49-48 lead when he hit the foul shot to convert the three-point play.

Peterson missed two free throws — Providence missed 12 foul shots in all — then Wright made a free throw. After Peterson missed a 3-pointer, Wright made two more free throws to give Georgetown a 54-48 lead with 9:40 left. Sharaud Curry hit a 3-pointer and PC later cut the deficit to 56-54, but never got any closer.

Providence had a last chance at a comeback in the last 2 minutes when Marshon Brooks made a layup to make it 69-64, then the full-court pressure forced a baseball pass that just missed the outstretched fingers of a Friar defender. Monroe caught it instead and moved in for a layup and foul, converting the three-point play to give Georgetown a 71-64 lead with 70 seconds left.

Providence outrebounded Georgetown 42-31, but the Friars shot just 34 percent from the field and 64 percent from the line.

Players got tangled up under the basket with 16:43 left in the game, with Monroe and Dixon jawing before the referees sent the teams to their benches to cool off.