Georgetown men’s basketball (15-10, 6-8 BIG EAST) lost by double digits to the Butler Bulldogs (12-13, 5-9 BIG EAST) 97-86 at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Feb. 15. Despite the Hoyas’ core-four all reaching double figures, Butler was able to dice the Georgetown defense and secure a comfortable victory at home.
If I had told you before the game that freshman forward Thomas Sorber would not miss a shot from the field, and his co-stars graduate guard Micah Peavy, junior guard Jayden Epps, and sophomore guard Malik Mack all finished the game in double figures, you’d have thought Georgetown probably won this game. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, that was not the case today as the Hoyas lost Sorber to injury late in the first half and could not recover from a double digit half-time deficit, as the usually stout Georgetown defense was extremely porous on the road today.
The first half seemingly started auspiciously for the Hoyas, with Sorber scoring eight of the Hoyas’ first nine points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field. Back-to-back triples by Mack and sophomore forward Drew Fielder expanded the Hoyas lead to 17-11. But Butler, led on this day by senior forward Pierre Brooks II, got the offense humming after going down early. Brooks scored17 of his game-high 30 points in the first half as he and sophomore guard Finley Bizjack combined to nearly outscore Georgetown by themselves in the first half. A Bizjack triple put Butler ahead 27-25, a lead they did not relinquish the rest of the game.
In a nightmare scenario for Georgetown, down 31-27 with five-and-a-half to play, Sorber fell to the floor on a Bizjack drive with an apparent lower-leg injury. Sorber would not return for Georgetown, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-5 from the field.
Without Sorber, the Hoyas would not be able to slow down Butler any longer as the Bulldogs went on a 14-2 run to completely take control of the game. By halftime the score was 46-35 Butler.
To start the second half, the teams started out playing fairly evenly, with Butler able to maintain a three-to-four possession advantage in the early going. Still playing without Sorber, foul trouble now began to mount for the Hoyas with two starting forwards, Fielder and freshman Caleb Williams, as well as Epps all picking up four fouls before six minutes had even elapsed in the second half. Despite this, though, the Hoyas continued to fight.
Down 71-58, Georgetown jumped back into the fray with a quick 7-0 spurt, with Mack, Peavy and Epps all getting on the board. But the fouls, a key theme of the half, kept piling up with Peavy and sophomore forward Jordan Burks also getting themselves into foul trouble by the under-8 timeout with Georgetown down 74-67. By this point in the game Butler had already shot 21 free throws, making 18.
With foul trouble continuing to worsen, and despite the best efforts of Peavy, Epps, Burks, and Mack, Butler took complete control down the stretch of the second half, much as they had late in the first, and scored at will. With two minutes to play, the foul situation had become so bad that two walk-ons—sophomore forward Austin Montgomery and freshman guard Micheal Van Raaphorst got in the game for the Hoyas. The final score: 97-86 Butler.
Brooks led a quartet of Bulldogs into double figures with 30 points of his own. Five Hoyas made it to double figures led by Peavy with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists, to go along with 3 steals, but on a day when Georgetown nearly gave up 100 points, it just wasn’t enough to win today.
Next, the Hoyas come home to try and get revenge on the Providence Friars (11-14, 5-9 BIG EAST) on Feb 19. at 7:00 p.m. EST at Capital One Arena. The game will be broadcast on FS1. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
