NEW YORK — Georgetown coach John Thompson III has a remarkable knack for making a difficult game sound simple.

Take, for instance, his approach to guarding Dominique Jones. The South Florida star ripped apart the Hoyas the last time the two teams met, and was coming off an impressive performance that helped his team reach the second round of the Big East tournament.

"I just yelled at the guys, 'Guard him!' " Thompson said, grinning.

They sure listened, and didn't stop with the league's second-leading scorer. The No. 22 Hoyas frustrated South Florida all over the court in a 69-49 second-round victory yesterday, propelling them into a marquee matchup with regular-season champion and No. 3 Syracuse.

The two conference heavyweights have split their 12 meetings in the Big East tournament.

Jason Clark and Greg Monroe scored 16 points each Georgetown (21-9), which held the Bulls to a season-low 29.1 percent from the field. It was the second straight game and fifth time this season that an opponent failed to break 50 against the Hoyas' defense.

"We really struggled to find a shot," South Florida coach Stan Heath said. "It happened yesterday and today it really caught up to us, not being able to hit a perimeter jump shot."

Georgetown built a 14-point first-half lead relying mostly on defense. South Florida (20-12) didn't score for nearly eight minutes, and Jones couldn't find open looks as the Hoyas rotated over to guard him.

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE

ROBERT MORRIS WINS TITLE, BERTH IN NCAAS, 52-50

HAMDEN, Conn. — Dallas Green deflected a potential game-winning shot then sank two free throws with 7 seconds left as Robert Morris earned its second straight NCAA bid with a 52-50 victory over Quinnipiac.

Freshman Karon Abraham scored 16 points to lead the Colonials (23-11), and Green and Russell Johnson each added nine. This will be Robert Morris' seventh trip to the NCAA tournament.

James Feldeine had 17 points for Quinnipiac (23-9) which was seeking its first conference title, but will settle for a berth in the NIT. Justin Rutty, the NEC Player of the Year, added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

WAC REPRIMANDS UTAH STATE COACH MORRILL

LOGAN, Utah — The Western Athletic Conference has reprimanded Utah State coach Stew Morrill for yelling at a New Mexico State player during a game last week.

Morrill shouted at New Mexico State's Jahmar Young after he dived on a Utah State player while going for a loose ball in Utah State's win on Saturday. The WAC says Morrill's language was provocative and violated the league's sportsmanship rules.

Morrill issued a statement yesterday saying his comments were inappropriate and he made a mistake. He says Young got a technical foul for the situation and Morrill has been reprimanded. In his words, "that should cover it."