Senior forward Henry Sims and junior forwward Hollis Thompson each have tallied eight points to help the Georgetown Hoyas earn a 30-24 halftime lead over the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at Madison Square Garden. The winner advance to the semifinals to play top-seeded Syracuse Orange, who earlier downed the Connecticut Huskies 58-55.

Freshman forward Otto Porter added seven points and three rebounds for UConn, which shot 46-pecent from the floor.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati, the tournament's No. 4 seed, is paced by senior forward Yancy Gates's eight points, while sophomore forward Justin Jackson has netted five points off the bench.

At one point, Georgetown trailed 15-14 but used a small 7-0 run to take a 21-17 lead with 5:39 to go in the half.

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