SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Luke Harangody didn't let being in foul trouble against an athletic Georgetown team bother him. Neither did Notre Dame coach Mike Brey.
Harangody thought he would spend about 10 minutes on the bench when he picked up his fourth foul with 15:17 left and the 13th-ranked Fighting Irish up by six points.
Instead, he sat less than 4 minutes, then scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds down the stretch to help Notre Dame beat the ninth-ranked Hoyas 73-67 on Monday night and end a five-game losing streak to Georgetown.
Brey said he didn't think for too long about putting Harangody, who finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, back in.
"When you're an older player, a veteran player, my feeling is sometimes coaches sit guys with foul trouble too much. He's played a lot of basketball," Brey said. "I talked with him when I took him out. I told him, 'I need you to be smart."'
Harangody, who had never scored more than 13 points in three previous games against Georgetown, scored Notre Dame's final 13 points of the first half to give the Irish an 11-point lead.
"He's the MVP of our league," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said of the reigning Big East player of the year. "He makes good decisions. He can score from many places on the court, and they surround him with guys who can make shots."
The Hoyas closed to 71-67 with 15 seconds left when Chris Wright scored inside, but Kyle McAlarney, who missed the front end of a 1-and-1 14 seconds earlier, made two free throws with 12 seconds left.
McAlarney, who was 1-of-5 from 3-point range in a loss Saturday at St. John's, was 5-of-11 from 3-point range Monday night, finishing with 17 points. Tory Jackson added 10 points and seven assists.
Freshman Greg Monroe led Georgetown (10-3, 1-2) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Wright added 13 points and DaJuan Summers finished with 11, his second-lowest point total this season.
Notre Dame (11-3, 2-1) extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 44 games, including 19 in the conference, one shy of the Big East record set by Pittsburgh in 2004.
Brey said the Irish are more confident playing at home.
"They really believe in this building. This has been a great advantage for us. It's been therapy for us on the road," he said. "Come on home and get well."
The Hoyas were one of only two Big East teams the Irish hadn't beaten during that streak. They also haven't beaten Rutgers, which visits the Joyce Center on Feb. 25.
Thompson said the Hoyas simply didn't play well enough to win.
"This is an unforgiving league, so we have to do it every night in every aspect of the game," he said.
He wouldn't use the excuse of having to open the Big East season against Connecticut, Pittsburgh and the Irish -- three of the league's record nine ranked teams -- as a reason for the Hoyas' struggles and two-game losing streak.
"Yes, it was a difficult stretch with two road games and a quick turnaround here. But so what?" he said. "It's the Big East."
• No. 6 Oklahoma 100, Maryland-Eastern Shore 64: At Norman, Okla., Blake Griffin had 20 points and 16 rebounds for his 12th double-double this season.
The Sooners (14-1) played without coach Jeff Capel, who was hospitalized earlier Monday with stomach flu. Assistant coach Mark Cline took over in his absence.
Tony Crocker and Willie Warren both added 15 points for the Sooners.
Neal Pitt had 18 points for the Hawks (1-9), who trailed 48-22 at halftime.
• Florida State 60, No. 3 Texas A&M 53: At Tallahassee, Fla., Tanae Davis-Cain scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half and Florida State rallied to upset No. 3 Texas A&M.
Davis-Cain and Courtney Ward combined for 10 points as the Seminoles (12-4) ran off 16 straight to take a 56-50 lead with 3:35 remaining. Florida State closed the game with a 20-3 surge.
Tanisha Smith had 17 points for the Aggies (12-1), and Danielle Gant added 10.
Jacinta Monroe led the Seminoles with 15 points, and Cierra Bravard finished with 10.
• Purdue 66, No. 8 Texas 55: At West Lafayette, Ind., freshman guard Brittany Rayburn scored 19 points to lead Purdue to the win.
Danielle Campbell had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Lakisha Freeman scored 12 points and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Boilermakers (9-5).
Erika Arriaran scored 14 points and Brittainey Raven added 13 for Texas (12-2), which has lost two of three. Texas dropped four spots in the Top 25 on Monday following its loss at San Diego State on Dec. 30.
• No. 5 Duke 87, Temple 52: At Durham, N.C., Chante Black scored 15 points and Shay Selby added a career-high 14 to lead Duke to its 10th straight victory.
Joy Cheek had 13 points and Jasmine Thomas added 11 for the Blue Devils (12-1), who led 47-22 at halftime.
• No. 15 Virginia 82, St. Francis, Pa. 66: At Charlottesville, Va., Monica Wright scored 22 points to help Virginia get the win.
Wright was 9-of-21 from the field and had six rebounds and four assists for the Cavaliers (13-2), who are off to their best start since 1991-92.
Aisha Mohammed, playing in her second game after returning from knee surgery, had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Virginia.
• Oakland, Mich. 67, No. 23 South Dakota St. 51: At Rochester, Mich., Jessica Pike scored 17 points and April Kidd and Melissa Jeltema had double-doubles to lead Oakland to the victory.
Kidd finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Oakland (11-4, 3-1 Summit). Jeltema had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Posted in Sports on Monday, January 5, 2009 11:00 pm
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