Georgetown never trailed and led for the last 39 minutes, 6 seconds on Thursday night, but the unbeaten Hoyas had to hold off a comeback in the final 10 minutes to beat Howard 81-67 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Jessie Govan paced Georgetown (7-0) with 24 points and 16 rebounds. Kaleb Johnson made every shot he tried, going 6-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 at the line to tally 18 points. Marcus Derrickson also scored 16, sinking a 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining to finally put the Bison (1-9) away.

The Hoyas canned nearly 56 percent of their field goals in the first half, opening up a 46-30 halftime lead. Howard made only 12 of 31 shots and appeared to be nothing more than cannon fodder for its crosstown opponent.

But the Bison made the game interesting after Georgetown established a 20-point lead with just under 12 minutes remaining. Guard Charles Williams capped a 21-6 spurt by canning one of his six 3-pointers at the 4:02 mark, reducing the lead to 70-65.

However, Howard couldn't get any closer as the Hoyas finished the game with an 11-2 spurt to maintain their status as one of only eight unbeaten teams in Division I.

Williams bombed in a game-high 28 points for the Bison, which also got 17 points and eight assists from RJ Cole, plus 11 points from reserve Cameron Lewis.

Howard shot just over 47 percent from the field, going 10 of 23 from the 3-point line, but Georgetown dominated the boards 41-25.