Greg Monroe News

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish offered up some thoughts on Georgetown's situation over the weekend after back-to-back neutral floor defeats of Butler and Washington --- and it's certainly worth an even closer look.

Kansas State's early play shows the Wildcats could be a contender in the Big 12.

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Julian Vaughn scored a career-high 18 points, and No. 15 Georgetown pulled away in the second half for its second victory over a ranked opponent in five days, beating No.

Huskies on the court --- We're about 40 minutes away from tip off. UW is finishing stretching.

There are multiple components to the five-day conditioning drill that Georgetown Coach John Thompson III ginned up to gird his Hoyas for the Big East season. Among them:

Taking on a ranked opponent, No. 22 Butler, at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Following that with a game four days later against another ranked team -- No. 17 Washington -- chosen expressly because the Huskies play a dramatically different style of basketball than Butler.

And compounding the back-to-back challenge with a cross-country trip to Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., where the loyalties for Saturday's game will surely lie with the Pacific-10's reigning champion.

Game info: 11 a.m. Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. TV/Radio: FSN/950 AM Coach: John Thompson III, 123-51 in his sixth season with the Hoyas, 191-93 overall in nine years.

So much for Washington's soft preliminary warmup acts, the ones padded with second-rate opponents and homecourt spoils.

"Greg Monroe is one of the most talented players in the country." Pretty tough to argue with that statement, isn't it? I mean, we are talking about a kid that is 6'11", left-handed, and an excellent passer with a solid jumper and a developing post game.

Greg Monroe had 24 points and 15 rebounds - both career highs - to lead No. 15 Georgetown to a 72-65 victory over No.

Georgetown guard Chris Wright, center, works around a screen by American's Riley Grafft to stay with American guard Daniel Munoz during second-half action at Verizon Center.

Chris Wright and Henry Sims scored 12 points each Saturday, boosting 14th-ranked Georgetown to a 73-46 win over American.

Georgetown's Julian Vaughn is completely overhauling his basketball identity. Virginia's Mr.

Against yet another outmanned and outclassed opponent, Georgetown kept its unbeaten streak alive Saturday, routing District rival American, 73-46, before a crowd of Hoya partisans at Verizon Center.

Having built a 30-point lead with nearly eight minutes to play, Georgetown Coach John Thompson III used the breathing room to give his freshmen and key reserves valuable experience, mindful that the Hoyas' caliber of opponent gets decidedly more rigorous this week.

And 6-foot-10 sophomore Henry Sims, who has labored in the shadow of starter Greg Monroe since arriving on the Hilltop, was quick to demonstrate his potential, scoring a career-high 12 points in 13 minutes. Junior guard Chris Wright also contributed 12 to pace the Hoyas' offense, and junior forward Julian Vaughn added 11 as well as seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

When Georgetown and American faced off this time a year ago at Verizon Center, the Hoyas were ungracious hosts, humbling their crosstown foe with a 73-49 smackdown.

Saturday's meeting could be even more lopsided, with the revitalized Hoyas off to a 5-0 start and American, having undergone a wholesale change of its starting lineup, still searching for an offense to boost its 1-7 record.

Regardless of the outcome, the game won't necessarily prove a harbinger of what's in store for either team.

Sophomore guard Jason Clark scored a career-high 14 points in Georgetown's easy win over Savannah State on Saturday.

DeMarcus Cousins scored a season high of 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead fifth-ranked Kentucky to a 94-57 win over North Carolina-Asheville last night in Louisville, Ky.

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The Georgetown Hoyas welcome the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers to D.C. for a non-conference affair this evening.

So far this season, Hoya fans seem to be in a real hurry to forget about last year and move on...immediately. A Understandable.