Mac McClung scored 25 points and Georgetown recorded an 89-78 win over host St. John's on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

McClung did not play due to an ankle injury in the first meeting between the schools when St. John's recorded a wild 97-94 overtime win in Washington on Jan. 5 but was the difference in Georgetown (13-7, 3-4 Big East) averting its first season sweep to the Red Storm since 1998-99.

The freshman guard recorded his third career game with at least 20 points and second in a Big East game. He hit a handful of big shots and shot 9 of 19 from the floor as the Hoyas shot 46.9 percent and hit 13 of 27 3-pointers.

The Hoyas took a pair of 10-point leads and appeared they were going struggle to finish off the victory on a day when they committed 19 turnovers. St John's was within 79-77 with 1:45 left when Georgetown was called for goaltending on a drive through the lane by Shamorie Ponds.

On St. John's next possession, LJ Figueroa missed a layup, Justin Simon missed a follow-up and McClung easily coasted in for the dunk on the other end to make it 81-77 with 1:11 left.

Jesse Govan just missed a double-double by finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds. Josh LeBlanc added 15 as Georgetown avoided a third straight loss.

Ponds scored 21 points, but St. John's (15-5, 3-5) lost for the fourth time in five games by shooting 38.2 percent and misfiring on 19 of 26 3-pointers.

Mustapha Heron added 18 while Figueroa contributed 14, but Marvin Clark II and Simon shot a combined 5 of 26 from the floor as St. John's lost its first home game of the season at Madison Square Garden.

McClung scored 13 points as Georgetown shot 48.5 percent and ended a high-scoring first half with a 41-37 lead.

Georgetown started the second half by making six of its first nine shots and took a 60-50 lead on a 3-pointer by Jagan Mosely with 13:01 to go. St. John's cut the deficit to 62-57 on a jumper by Figueroa with 10:41 left, but Georgetown took its second 10-point lead at 67-57 on a putback by Govan with 8:48 remaining.

The Hoyas held a 73-64 lead when McClung hit a long 3-pointer with 6:07 remaining. St. John's countered with an 8-2 run and was within 75-72 on a basket by Sedee Keita with 4:01 remaining.

--Field Level Media