Georgetown 77, West Virginia 65: D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 23 of his season-high 32 points in the second half as the host Hoyas downed their former Big East rival in the first round of the NIT.

Smith-Rivera shot 7-for-10 from the field after halftime following a 2-for-7 start, sparking Georgetown (18-14) on a pair of big runs. Smith-Rivera added 11 rebounds and Markel Starks scored 14 points for the Hoyas, who face Florida State in the second round.

Juwan Staten scored 23 points with seven assists to lead West Virginia (17-16), but only scored eight in the second half. The Mountaineers shot 54.5 percent in the first half before falling apart offensively, finishing the night shooting 44.9 percent in closing the season with six losses in their final eight contests.

The Hoyas trailed 36-33 early in the second half before using a 15-5 run, including eight points from Smith-Rivera, to build a 48-41 advantage with just under 14 minutes remaining. Terry Henderson brought the Mountaineers within 53-49 on a 3-pointer with just over 12 minutes to play, but Smith-Rivera’s basket less than a minute later launched a 15-2 spurt that pushed the Hoyas’ advantage to 68-51 with 3:47 to play.

Back-to-back baskets from Staten put the Mountaineers ahead 30-26 with 1:36 left in the first half. Staten converted a three-point play with 30 seconds to go in the half to give West Virginia a 33-28 advantage, but Georgetown closed to within three points on Aaron Bowen’s basket with six seconds to go before intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The game was played at McDonough Arena (capacity 2,500) on Georgetown’s campus. … Georgetown snapped a five-game losing streak to West Virginia and leads the series 27-25. … Staten hit 6-of-7 shots from the field in the first half, but went 2-for-6 in the final period.