Georgetown 75, Creighton 63

WASHINGTON — Guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 18 points and 12 rebounds and a hot-shooting first half propelled the Georgetown Hoyas to a stunning 75-63 victory over No. 13 Creighton Bluejays on Tuesday night.

Creighton forward Doug McDermott, the nation’s leading scorer, had 16 of his 22 points in the second half. The Bluejays (23-6, 13-4) have lost two straight and fell 1 1/2 games behind first place Villanova in the Big East standings.

Guard Markel Starks had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists on senior night for the Hoyas (17-12, 8-9). In a must-win game to maintain its NCAA Tournament hopes, Georgetown limited McDermott offensively in the first half, led by 16 points in the second half and closed the game with a 9-2 spurt.

Trailing 59-44 with 9:03 remaining, Creighton rallied as McDermott, who also grabbed 12 rebounds, sank three 3-pointers during an 11-2 run. Guard Grant Gibbs’ 3-pointer made it 66-61 with 1:31 remaining, but the Bluejays would get no closer.

Starks deftly fed fellow senior guard Aaron Bowen for a layup on Georgetown’s next possession.

Bowen and forward Mikael Hopkins, who had 10 points and five blocks, keyed the defensive effort on McDermott, who finished 9 of 23 from the field.

Smith-Rivera and Starks posted Georgetown’s second and third double-doubles of the season.

The Hoyas’ starting lineup made 22 of 38 shots from the field (57.9 percent).

Georgetown held McDermott, a national player of the year candidate, to 14 points in Creighton’s 76-63 home victory on Jan. 25. In the rematch, McDermott missed his first four shots from the field and finished 3 of 10 for six points in the first half.

The Hoyas had no issues offensively, shooting 61.5 percent from the field (16 of 26) for a 42-28 first-half lead. Smith-Rivera scored 13 points and Starks had seven assists.

Despite an overall dicey resume from an NCAA Tournament at-large perspective, the Hoyas won notable wins over Kansas State, Virginia Commonwealth, Michigan State and Xavier. Georgetown’s regular season wraps up Saturday at No. 6 Villanova.

NOTES: If McDermott maintains his scoring lead, he would be the first player from a Division I program to lead the nation in scoring and reach the NCAA Tournament since Purdue’s Glenn Robinson in 1994. … Among those in attendance were Washington Wizards rookie Otto Porter and former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Both starred for Georgetown. … Creighton closes out its first Big East regular season against Providence on Saturday.