Georgetown coach John Thompson III was asked how his team was able to hold Hasheem Thabeet to just four points (2-for-4 shooting) Monday night.

“It was a group effort,” said Thompson. “We wanted to make sure everyone knew where he was. He just had one of those days … Thabeet’s not going to go through too many days the rest of his life with a game like that.”

A scan of Thabeet’s career at UConn, however, would offer evidence to the contrary.

One of the big knocks on Thabeet to this point is that he fattens up against lesser foes but plays his worst against the best competition. By and large, the numbers back that up.

Thabeet’s statistics have trended downward in Big East play. And if it’s common sense to think a player’s numbers would be better overall than in league play, consider that three of UConn’s top players last year – A.J. Price, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie – all had better scoring averages in Big East play than overall (Doug Wiggins’ was exactly the same). And Thabeet’s numbers are even worse against Top 25 teams and/or top-notch opposing centers.

Here's a look at Thabeet's stats for field goal percentage, scoring, rebounds and blocked shots over his career thus far at UConn, broken down by overall totals, Big East totals, against Top 25 teams and against marquee big men. And by marquee big men, we mean five players we think you'll have no argument with: 2007-08 first-team all-Big East picks Luke Harangody, David Padgett, Roy Hibbert and Kentrell Gransberry, as well as Greg Monroe, who seems destined for stardom.

Yes, the latter is a small sample size -- just six games. But it does nothing to dissuade the notion that Thabeet struggles against better talent -- the type of talent he'll be facing in the NBA.

2006-07

Overall G: 31, FG Pct.: .554, PPG: 6.2, Rebs.: 6.4, Blocks: 3.8
Big East G: 16, FG Pct.: .510, PPG: 5.4, Rebs: 5.9, Blocks: 3.75
Vs. Top 25 G: 4, FG Pct.: .500, PPG: 4.5, Rebs.: 6.0, Blocks: 1.7

2007-08

Overall G: 33, FG Pct.: .603, PPG: 10.5, Rebs: 7.9, Blocks: 3.45
Big East G: 18, FG Pct.: .560, PPG: 9.7, Rebs: 7.6, Blocks: 5.2
Vs. Top 25 G: 7, FG Pct.: .562, PPG: 8.7, Rebs.: 6.4, Blocks: 3.8

2008-09

Overall G: 12, FG Pct.: .667, PPG: 13.9, Rebs.: 10.8, Blocks: 4.0
Big East G: 1, FG Pct.: .500, PPG: 4.0, Rebs.: 7.0, Blocks: 7.0
Vs. Top 25 G: 4, FG Pct.: .576, PPG: 10.2, Rebs: 7.5; Blocks: 4.5

CAREER

Overall G: 76, FG Pct.: .603, PPG: 9.3, Rebs.: 7.4, Blocks: 4.1
Big East G: 35, FG Pct.: .560, PPG: 7.6, Rebs.: 6.8, Blocks: 4.6
Vs. Top 25 G: 15, FG Pct.: .557, PPG: 8.0, Rebs.: 6.6, Blocks: 3.7
Vs. top centers* G: 6, FG Pct.: .421, PPG: 6.4, Rebs.: 6.5, Blocks: 6.5

* -- The past two seasons, against Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody (2 games) and Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, Louisville’s David Padgett, South Florida’s Kentrell Gransberry, and Georgetown’s Greg Monroe (1 game each).