Hart, Jenkins lead way as No. 2 Villanova routs Georgetown

WASHINGTON – Cheshire cat grins flashed across the faces of Villanova senior guards Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins as they pondered coming home to the D.C. area to face Georgetown one last time.

“Regular game, man,” Hart said. “Regular game.”

It was just a regular game because Hart and Jenkins again took control to lead No. 2 Villanova to an 81-55 rout of Georgetown on Saturday.

Hart finished with 21 points and hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 7 minutes left to put the game out of reach and Jenkins scored 19 as the local products continued their career trend of torching the Hoyas.

“We’ve all been there: You want to come back, you want to play great, you want to get hyped for the crowd,” coach Jay Wright said. “You’re a normal human being. For them to be able to come in and lead their team and do the little things and not play to the crowd, it’s really impressive. I’m really proud of them, and I’m a little bit amazed every time they do it.”

Hart, from nearby Silver Spring, Maryland, was ice cold for stretches but came up big when it mattered. He finished 8 of 15 from the field with six rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Wildcats (28-3, 15-3 Big East) won their fifth consecutive game against Georgetown (14-17, 5-13) – tying the longest streak in the history of the rivalry.

Jenkins , from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, made four of his eight shots and was 11 of 13 from the free throw line.

Georgetown at one point cut its deficit to four, but the defending national champions scored on 15 of 17 possessions to turn it into a blowout. With 11:50 remaining Villanova was shooting 34.8 percent, which would have been a season low, but it made 12 of its final 16 shots to finish at 46.3 percent.

“Our defense disappeared,” said Georgetown coach John Thompson III, who blamed his team’s 20 turnovers for a fifth consecutive loss. “Josh hit those two 3s, and we didn’t bounce back.”