Georgetown shoots 30% in second half
Your Georgetown Hoyas traveled to Omaha, Nebraska on Sunday to take on the Creighton Blue Jays in the second of two meetings between these teams. Back in December, Georgetown dominated Creighton by 24 points in their BIG EAST opener. However, since then, the Blue Jays have found their rhythm, winning nine straight conference games in January and early February. In that first matchup, Thomas Sorber held Creighton’s center, Ryan Kalkbrenner, to just 10 points, but Sorber missed his second straight game today with turf toe.
Micah Peavy (20 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL) continued his red-hot February, drilling an early three to give the Hoyas the lead. Georgetown built on that momentum and held the edge through the opening stretch, answering every Creighton bucket with one of their own. Midway through the first half, the Hoyas led 20-19 before Jayden Epps (22 PTS) and Jordan Burks (7 PTS, 3 REB) buried back-to-back triples, pushing the lead to double digits. With six minutes left in the half, Georgetown was up 36-26.
But then, Creighton’s veteran guard Steven Ashworth took over, igniting the Blue Jays’ offense after a key moment when Burks was whistled for a technical foul with Georgetown leading 38-31. From that point, Creighton took control. Ashworth scored eight points during the run and seemed to have his hand in every big play. The dagger came when, after a strong Georgetown defensive stand, Ashworth pulled up from the beak of the Blue Jay logo at center court and drained a deep three. Despite Peavy’s 18 first-half points and Georgetown’s 10-point cushion with six minutes remaining, Creighton closed the half on a 13-4 run to take a 44-42 lead into the break.
The Blue Jays picked up right where they left off after halftime, opening the second half with a quick 5-0 burst that forced Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley to call a timeout just a minute in. The pause slowed the pace, but not Creighton’s momentum. Georgetown’s defense struggled, and by the under-16 timeout, the Hoyas found themselves trailing 60-46. In a brutal 10-minute span, they had gone from up 10 to down 14.
The teams traded baskets from there until Jayden Epps got hot. With Creighton leading 64-51 and 12 minutes left, Epps hit back-to-back threes as part of an 8-0 Georgetown run. Peavy also provided a defensive spark, creating transition opportunities that forced Creighton head coach Doug McDermott to call a timeout as the Hoyas clawed within five at 64-59.
Out of the timeout, Creighton responded instantly. Kalkbrenner threw down an alley-oop while drawing Peavy’s fourth foul and the Hoyas were back on their heels as Creighton responded with another 5-0 run. From there, Creighton’s guards Fedor Zuic and Isaaz Troudt caught fire from deep, combining for four threes during a 14-2 run that extended the Blue Jays’ lead to 77-61 with four minutes remaining.
Georgetown continued to battle, but the 16-point deficit proved insurmountable. Peavy, who had dominated the first half, was held to just two points after the break. Georgetown had prided itself on defense all year, and it continues to be a strong defensive team led by Micah Peavy, who has thrown his hat into the NBA cycle. However, Creighton’s offense at Creighton is a tough task especially when they start to warm up from 3.
Georgetown also desperately missed Thomas Sorber down low against Kalkbrenner who really is the center of their offense. While Georgetown’s offense has started to show more promise over the last few games, their defense faltered giving up 80 points. In the end Georgetown, fell 80-69 in Omaha.