Returning from its first Big East win of the season against DePaul (8-8, 1-3 Big East) last Tuesday, the Georgetown men’s basketball team (11-4, 1-3 Big East) struggled back at home on Saturday, suffering its largest defeat of the season to Creighton (13-3, 3-1 Big East), who just earned the No. 25 ranking this week. The Hoyas were thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball at Capital One Arena, losing by a score of 90-66, and have now lost three of four conference games after losing just once in non-conference play. The Bluejays, coached by Greg McDermott, notched their third straight Big East victory after losing their conference opener to then-No. 23 Seton Hall (14-2, 3-0 Big East).
Creighton began the game hot, starting four of five from the field, and jumped out to a 14-3 lead just after the first media timeout. Georgetown largely kept pace through the next media timeout with scoring contributions from a variety of players. At the eight minute mark of the first half, graduate student guard Trey Dickerson hit a three-pointer to bring the Hoyas within 10 points.
However, over the final minutes of the first period, Georgetown was unable to thwart Creighton’s high-powered offense. Senior forward Toby Hegner led the way with three three-pointers during a run that saw the Bluejays take a 45-21 advantage with a minute left in the half. Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing implemented a full-court press which triggered a six-point run from the Hoyas to close the first half, but the damage was already done.
McDermott’s team did not look back in the second half. Two and a half minutes in, sophomore guard Martin Krampelj converted on a three-pointer to bring the Creighton lead to 23 points. The lead did not dip below 20 points for the remainder of the contest.
Creighton’s offensive play was defined by its three-point shooting. The Bluejays made 16 threes in total, while shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. This impressive shooting was sourced entirely from McDermott’s starting unit, including five threes from Hegner, four from sophomore guard Davion Mintz, and three each from senior guard Marcus Foster and junior guard Khyri Thomas.
For Georgetown, sophomore guard Jagan Mosely was the only player to crack double-digits, scoring 11 points off the bench. Freshman guard Jamorko Pickett had nine points and junior forward Kaleb Johnson grabbed a career-high ten rebounds. The Hoyas’ leading scorer and rebounder on the season, junior center Jessie Govan recorded just seven points and five rebounds, both season lows.
“We have to do a better job of competing,” Ewing said. “Creighton is one of the elite teams in the Big East. Games like this is when we need to rise to the occasion. We have to play better.”
Georgetown’s next game is Tuesday against St. John’s (10-6, 0-4 Big East) at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Follow @GUVoiceSports for game day updates and breaking news.
