Subscribe to our Newsletter

Men's Basketball

Morning After: Georgetown 75, #13 Creighton 63

By
0
Share

[Box Score]

Key Stats: Georgetown blocks eight shots, and alters at least a half dozen others at the rim. GU outrebounds Creighton 33-30, but Creighton manages to beat them on the offensive glass 10-7. CU shoots just 10-29 from three-point range, with Jahenns Manigat going 0-5 and Ethan Wragge going 1-6.

Quick Recap: 30 seconds into Tuesday’s game, Ethan Wragge drilled a three-pointer from the corner. That’s usually a good sign. On this night, though, it wasn’t to be — he wouldn’t make another one all night, the Jays wouldn’t score again until after the first media timeout, and it would be the only lead they’d have the entire game.

The combination of sloppy turnovers and a hot-shooting opponent proved too much in the first half. They allowed Georgetown too many open looks on the perimeter, and the Hoyas converted, while meanwhile every rally attempt was stymied by an errant pass or a missed shot. Grant Gibbs, in particular, had one of the worst halves of his career, as the usually-surehanded guard turned it over four times while dishing out zero assists. Jabril Trawick missed the first meeting between these two teams with a broken jaw, but wasted no time acquainting himself as he made two early three-pointers. And when he threw down a thunderous alley-oop with four minutes to go in the half, it gave the Hoyas an 11-point lead, whipping the Verizon Center crowd into a frenzy.

Creighton trailed by 14 at the break, 42-28, their largest deficit of the season. A halftime defensive adjustment to a triangle-and-two — mixed with an occasional 1-3-1 zone — confused Georgetown offensively and allowed the Jays to get back into the game. They cut the lead to 10 at 51-41 at the 12-minute mark after seven straight points from Doug McDermott, but were turned away by a clutch three from D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera. Four minutes later, McDermott drained consecutive three-pointers to trim the lead to nine, 59-50, but were stymied when they couldn’t get the ball to McDermott on the following possession and freshman Zach Hanson took an ill-advised jumper from 15-feet. On the other end, Trawick drove to the rim and made an easy basket to push the lead back out to double-digits, and the momentum was stifled. At the five minute mark, they made another run and trimmed the lead to 61-55 after another McDermott three, but once again the Hoyas had an answer, this time by drawing fouls and making the free throws.

Creighton had one last run in them, and after a three by Gibbs they were within five at 63-58 with two minutes to play. Another three by Gibbs kept the deficit at five, 66-61, but they were unable to get a defensive stop and when Aaron Bowen converted on a jumper with just over a minute left, their last gasp went unfulfilled.

It’s a disheartening loss, to be sure. I didn’t think they’d shoot as poorly as they did at Xavier again, predicted a double-digit win, and instead they lost by double-digits. But the big picture is this: CU, with a win on Saturday night, is poised to do something in the Big East that they didn’t do in the Valley in any of their final ten seasons in the league — go undefeated at home. Their resume remains solidly among the top 20-25 teams in America, with a 2-1 record against teams in the RPI top 25, 7-3 record against teams in the RPI top 50, and 12-6 against teams in the RPI top 100. Yes, they have TWELVE top 100 wins, and SEVEN inside the top 50, while playing the 24th toughest schedule in the country (and 44th toughest non-conference slate). A year ago, they had fewer wins in each category against the 95th toughest slate, and it was good for a 7 seed. Even with the two straight losses, they’re still predicted to earn a 4 seed, and a win over Providence (another top 50 opponent) plus a win or two in NYC next week (against more top 100 or even top 50 opponents) and they’re back up to a 3 seed.

Remember the ghastly road loss a year ago to Saint Mary’s, where they looked tired, lethargic, failed to match the energy of a fired-up opponent and were beaten soundly? That came in their third-to-last game, and I seem to recall them winding up the season on a bit of a high note. Don’t bail on ’em yet. As hard as it is to believe after last night, I have a sneaking suspicion the best is yet to come.

Quotables:

“We really had a hard time taking them out of their offensive flow the first half. You couple that with the fact that we turned it over seven times, which is uncharacteristic for us in a half, and several of those turnovers led to easy baskets for them, and it ended up just being too big of a hole for us to get out of.” -Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

“Changing defenses was good to us in the second half. We executed our offense a little bit better. But tonight they were the better team, there’s no question.” -Greg McDermott in postgame press conference

“We did play a triangle-and-two in the second half, quite a bit actually, just to try and slow them down a little, especially Starks and Rivera. That was good to us, but we shouldn’t have to rely on those defenses. We should be able to guard man like we have pretty much all season.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

“They’re great defenders. I give them a lot of credit. Hopkins was one of the more physical defenders I’ve ever faced, so give him a lot of credit — I got off to a slow start, my shot just wasn’t falling, but I can’t allow not making shots to carry over to the other end.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

“We feel like we’ve had pretty good warmups the last two games, and had a lot of energy but for some reason that isn’t carrying over to the start of the game. We have to change that because great teams have to play well for 40 minutes to win. You saw glimpses of it in the second half, where we played with a lot of energy, but we can’t wait until we’re behind to do that.” -Doug McDermott in postgame press conference

And Now, Here’s What You Had to Say:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0
Share
Newsletter
Never Miss a Story

Sign up for WBR's email newsletter, and get the best
Bluejay coverage delivered to your inbox FREE.