Welcome to the Big East schedule.
No sooner did it start than we had our first major surprise of the year as No. 11 Georgetown went into Hartford and outplayed No. 2 UConn in every way, shape and form en route to a 74-63 victory.
DaJuan Summers scored 18 points and Chris Wright and freshman Greg Monroe both had 16 points for Georgetown (10-1, 1-0). Austin Freeman added 13.
Monroe looked like an experienced veteran in taking UConn big man Hasheem Thabeet out 15 feet from the basket and then dishing off to teammates for backdoor cuts.
Georgetown led 15-1 and 18-3 and then withstood a late run to hand UConn it’s first loss of the season.
A.J. Price had 16 points and Jeff Adrien added 15 for the Huskies (11-1, 0-1).
VILLANOVA DOWNS TEMPLE, 62-45
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Corey Fisher scored eight straight points in the decisive run and finished with 23 to rally No. 15 Villanova to its 23rd straight home win, 62-45 over Temple on Monday night.
The Wildcats (12-1) continued to roll over their city rivals, winning 18 of their last 19 Big 5 games. Up ahead for Villanova, a stiffer test in the Big East opener on Jan. 1 at Marquette.
The Owls (5-6) led at halftime and stretched it to 32-24 until completely falling apart from the floor. They went 11 1/2 minutes without a field goal and have lost three straight since beating then-No. 8 Tennessee.
Fisher and Scottie Reynolds put an end to Temple’s lead, combining for four 3-pointers during a 14-0 run that helped Villanova match its longest winning streak at the Pavilion.
BIG EAST UPCOMING GAMES
No. 10 Notre Dame vs. DePaul, Dec. 31, ESPN
No. 13 Villanova vs. No. 25 Marquette, Jan. 1, ESPN
No. 11 Syracuse vs. South Florida, Jan. 2, ESPN
No. 3 Pitt vs. No. 8 Georgetown, Jan. 3, ESPN
No. 8 Georgetown vs. No. 10 Notre Dame, Jan. 5, ESPN
No. 2 UConn vs. West Virginia, Jan. 6, ESPNU
No. 18 Louisville vs. No. 13 Villanova, Jan. 10, ESPN
