A night to remember for sophomore guard Kelan Martin led to another forgettable defeat for the Georgetown men’s basketball team (13-10, 6-4 Big East), who fell to the Butler Bulldogs (15-7, 4-6 Big East) by a final of 87-76 in Indianapolis.
Martin, who had previously set his career-high of 27 points in Butler’s loss to Marquette last weekend, got off to a hot start against the Hoyas, who have continuously struggled this year at containing streaky perimeter scorers. Martin scored 13 points in the game’s first seven minutes, helping the Bulldogs streak out to an 18-9 lead early in the opening half.
Senior center Bradley Hayes helped keep Georgetown in the game by scoring nine points in the first half, but the tempo of the game heavily favored Butler, who held a lead consistently throughout the opening frame. However, the Hoyas found no answer for Martin as the half wore on, as he finished the half with 19 points and led Butler to a 40-31 lead.
The Bulldogs were the aggressors early in the second half, and just five minutes into the half, the Blue and Gray found themselves behind by 16 points. Butler held onto a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, but Georgetown mounted a comeback attempt within the closing minutes of the game. The Hoyas pulled within six points after an Isaac Copeland free throw with just over a minute to play, but Georgetown was unable to get over the hump and close the gap completely down the stretch.
Despite receiving 22 points from sophomore guard L.J. Peak and 21 points from senior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, the Hoyas had little support from the rest of the team, which shot just 13-of-33 from the field. Butler’s Martin would finish with a career-high 35 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Bulldogs, whose victory against the Hoyas was just their fourth win in ten conference games.
The Hoyas struggled on the boards, as they were out-rebounded for a fourth consecutive game, this time by a Butler team that has only one player taller than 6’8”. In addition, Georgetown continued to be plagued by foul trouble, as the Hoyas were whistled for 29 fouls to Butler’s 17.
The Hoyas have lost three of their last four games, but will try to right the ship when they visit the Seton Hall Pirates on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
