Coming off of its best win of the season, the Georgetown men’s basketball team (16-11, 6-8 Big East) suffered another disappointing away loss on Saturday, falling to Creighton (15-13, 6-9 Big East), 82-69. Junior forward Martin Krampelj paced the Bluejays with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard Jahvon Blair helped keep the Hoyas in the game with 16 points off the bench. The Bluejays demonstrated their shooting prowess throughout the game, sinking 14 3-pointers.
Back-to-back 3-pointers and a dunk from junior guard Davion Mintz put Creighton up 8-0, just two and a half minutes into the game. Midway through the first half, the Hoyas pulled it back to within one after a steal from graduate student forward Trey Mourning led to a fast break layup from freshman guard James Akinjo. But the Bluejays continued to fire away from deep, and threes from Mintz and sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander soon put them back up five. With eight minutes until the break, senior center Jessie Govan and senior guard Greg Malinowski hit consecutive threes for the Hoyas to briefly put them on top by one.
A 10-0 run from the Bluejays, capped off by a three from senior guard Kaleb Joseph, quickly re-established their lead. Joseph finished the game with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 from the field. Down ten with a minute left, sophomore guard/forward grabbed a rebound and found Govan for a fast break layup, before Akinjo splashed a jumper the next trip down to bring Georgetown within six going into the half.
Creighton came out of the break on an 13-1 run, highlighted by threes from sophomore guard Mitch Ballock, Krampelj, and freshman Marcus Zegarowski. A three from Malinowski and a pair of free throws from Mourning cut the margin to 13 with 14 minutes remaining. Two minutes later, Blair was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to cut it to 56-46. But the Bluejays continuously responded to spurts from Georgetown with mini runs of their own.
With six minutes to go in the game, Alexander hit a three followed by a pair of Krampelj free throws to put Creighton back up 16. A dunk from Krampelj two minutes later extended it to 17. Another short run from the Hoyas, highlighted by a three from Blair, cut it to 10 with two minutes to go, but that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the game. Alexander converted 4-of-4 free throws in the dying minutes to seal the win.
The Bluejays’ offense was effective throughout the afternoon converting on 51.8 percent of their field goals and 41.2 percent from beyond the arc. After having strong games in the win over No. 17 Villanova (20-7, 11-3 Big East) on Wednesday, Akinjo, McClung, and Govan combined for just 22 points in Omaha, NE.
The Hoyas return to the hardwood for their final homestand of the season, beginning with a matchup against DePaul (13-12, 5-9 Big East) on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with live stats available at guhoyas.com. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for live coverage and updates on all Georgetown sports.
