The Georgetown Hoyas (7-24, 2-18 BIG EAST) suffered a blowout loss to the Creighton Bluejays (19-11, 13-6 BIG EAST), 99-59, on the road in Omaha to close out their regular season.
Expectations were low for the Hoyas heading into the game as they had already locked in their eleventh seed in the Big East Tournament. They still had a chance to stop Creighton from moving up in the rankings, though.
However, any hopes of winning were immediately dashed when the Bluejays opened up the game on a 19-0 run. Sophomore Bradley Ezewiro was replaced early on at center by senior Qudus Wahab, who was making his first appearance Feb. 22.
It took over six minutes for Georgetown to get their first point of the game, which came on the second of a pair of free throws for sophomore guard Brandon Murray. The Hoyas struggled offensively and defensively through the rest of the half, which the Bluejays closed out 51-24.
The second half saw much of the same. Creighton knocked down threes left and right, going up by 43 at one point, while the Hoyas couldn’t get any sort of momentum going on either end of the court and never got closer than the 29-point gap at the start of the half. The Bluejays finished things out 99-59.
This game put all of Georgetown’s weaknesses on full display. Throughout the season, they’ve struggled to consistently run offense as a team, and have instead relied on individual players–notably, sophomore guard Primo Spears–to create scoring opportunities for themselves. While Spears did lead the Hoyas in scoring, with 21 points, Georgetown had only nine assists on 21 made baskets on the night as compared to Creighton’s 27 on 33.
Similarly, since their opening game against Coppin State, Georgetown has failed to guard the three-point line effectively due to their tendency to double in the paint and leave shooters open. It’s played a role in losses before, but was never as obvious a problem as on Wednesday. The Bluejays hit a season-high 19 three-point field goals, shooting 55.9 percent from three on the night. Sophomore guard Trey Alexander alone shot 7-of-10 from deep, outscoring the Hoyas from three.
It didn’t help that Georgetown’s shooting was worse than normal. The Hoyas actually took more shots than Creighton (66-61), but shot only 31.8 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc. But part of the reason for their poor shooting must be attributed to the Bluejays’ defense that the Blue and Gray couldn’t quite find a way around.
Even when the Hoyas did manage to get the ball into the paint, they struggled to finish. Creighton exploited all of the things that Georgetown has struggled with all season, highlighting improvements that should have been made months ago.
Head Coach Patrick Ewing took the blame for Wednesday’s loss in a press release. “It was a disappointing effort to start. As the head of the program, I have to take the responsibility – I didn’t get my guys ready to perform, I need to come up with a better game plan.”
Ewing now has only until March 8 to improve his game plan, when the Hoyas face fifth-seeded Villanova in the first round of the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1. For continued coverage of Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
