Hansbrough, Abromaitis combine to lead Notre Dame to 78-64 win over No. 11 Georgetown

Hansbrough leads Irish past No. 11 Georgetown

WASHINGTON — Ben Hansbrough scored 21 points, Tim Abromaitis had 19 and Notre Dame has thrust itself back into the NCAA tournament picture with a 78-64 win over No. 11 Georgetown on Saturday, its second straight win over a Top 25 team.

The Fighting Irish (19-10, 8-8) have looked like a Big East contender the last two games without leading scorer Luke Harangody. Harangody missed his fourth straight game with a bone bruise on his right knee.

The Irish knocked off No. 12 Pittsburgh by 15 on Wednesday and controlled this one from the tip to win its first road game over a ranked team in more than two years.

Hansbrough scored the first 10 points of the second half to bust open this win after Carleton Scott nearly had a career game in the first 20 minutes.

Scott had 17 points, nine rebounds and set the tone with aggressive, hustling play that the Hoyas (19-8, 9-7) just didn’t have with any consistency. The Irish had a 29-20 edge on the boards, and boxed out on almost every shot.

Greg Monroe scored 15 points, and Hollis Thompson and Jason Clark each scored 12 for the Hoyas.

Hansbrough turned a tight game at halftime into a second straight Big East romp.

He unexpectedly went off with two layups, two 3-pointers and the first 10 points of the second half — all in less than 3 minutes — to give the Irish a 41-30 lead. He scored two points on only three shots in the first 20 minutes.

One fan kept shouting, “You’re not your brother! You’re not your brother!”

Maybe not, but he didn’t have to be former North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough. Ben Hansbrough was doing fine on his own.

Jack Cooley went underneath for two easy buckets, his first points of the game, that stretched the lead to 50-38.

Then the Hoyas finally got rolling on a series of plays that seemed to go against them in the first half. Clark hit a 3 and Georgetown took a charge on Notre Dame’s possession. Julian Vaughn went inside for a basket that brought the Verizon Center crowd to their feet for the first time since the opening minutes.

Georgetown forced a shot clock violation and Thompson came down for a 3 that made it 50-46.

The party was over just as fast as it started.

The Irish — who shot 36 percent from 3-point range — got three clutch ones in a row that crippled the Hoyas. Tory Jackson, Scott and Hansbrough all made theirs for a 59-49 lead.

Hansbrough then crashed into the pole on a wild layup and made the free throw to all but seal the win.

The Irish shot 71 percent (15 for 21) in the second half to thwart the Hoyas.

Scott was everywhere on the court early, busting through Hoya defenders to grab rebounds. He had a career game in the first half thanks to a pair of 3-pointers that gave him 12 points — three more than his previous high. His six rebounds were five off his personal best.

He had made only 10 3-pointers all season then hit two early that helped Notre Dame open a lead it wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game. Abromaitis had nine points in the first half to help the Irish take a 31-27 lead at halftime.