NEW YORK -- D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and Georgetown pulled away from DePaul for a 70-53 victory Wednesday night in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Smith-Rivera, a second-team All-Big East selection and the fifth-leading scorer in the conference with a 16.3 average, took over in the second half, scoring 11 points in the Hoyas' 16-2 run that gave them their first 18-point lead of the game, 55-37 with 8:56 to play.
The eighth-seeded Hoyas (15-17), who snapped a six-game losing streak, will face top-seeded and third-ranked Villanova in Thursday's quarterfinals.