Hoya Gray Campaign Continues
A student campaign to attend the Big East tournament continues to exceed expectations, per a GoFundMe drive.
"We continue to be overwhelmed by the support, and we are beginning to organize for [the] Big East Tourney," writes organizer Joe Moore. "We had a stand at the [Providence] game where we collected names of people interested in coming to NYC. We thought we'd maybe get 20, instead we got 55. We just reached out to these 55 with a Google form that will confirm their interest, and we're hoping this form makes its way to all interested parties on campus. This form will help us track people's needs (e.g.: hotel v. home stay). I now think we're looking at bringing 50-70 people."To support this effort, visit this link.
Pre-Game Report
Georgetown's 93-72 win over Providence without Thomas Sorber on Wednesday was in some ways, the basketball equivalent of the straight flush: a lot of cards had to fall the right way to make it happen.
Without Sorber, the Hoyas had to have a strong offensive game, contend at the perimeter, avoid foul trouble, and keep PC from taking over at the foul line. Mission accomplished: Georgetown shot over 50 percent for the first time in 13 games, tied a season high with 10 three pointers, lost only one player to foul trouble, and was a net +7 on free throws. Each of these will be decidedly tougher to address in a Sunday afternoon meeting at Creighton.As much as any Big East team, the Bluejays are a much stronger home team than on the road. At 12-2 at home this season, Creighton returns to Omaha following a 79-73 loss to St. John's where it held the Redmen to 38 percent shooting and still lost. Leading the conference in field goal percentage and second in shooting defense, the Bluejays figure to focus on its strengths inside where Georgetown is lacking due to Sorber's absence.
Georgetown is 2-9 all-time at the the CHI Health Center, with its last win coming in the COVID-interrupted 2020-21 season.
More on the Bluejays follow at the Pre-Game Report page.
Since Last We Met
From HoyaSaxa.com, December 18, 2024:
In a throwback to its last Big East win over a team not named DePaul or Butler, the Georgetown Hoyas ran the Creighton Bluejays out of Capital One Arena, 81-57, before an announced crowd of 4,062 Wednesday night.That throwback was the 2021 Big East final played before conference officials and family members at Madison Square Garden, a game where Georgetown shot 54 percent after halftime and held the Bluejays to 28 percent shooting on the night in a 73-48 final. Tonight, the Hoyas shot 63 percent after halftime and held the Bluejays to 39 percent for the game.
The Hoyas entered this game without point guard Malik Mack following a knee injury suffered during Saturday's game at Syracuse; he was replaced in the lineup by freshman Caleb Williams, who had six points in his first career start.
Both teams opened the game hot from the perimeter, combining for five three pointers between them in the first five minutes of the first and a 12-9 Georgetown lead at the first media time out, thanks to four assists from Micah Peavy.
Nine straight points from Creighton guard Stephen Ashworth gave the Jays a 15-14 lead at the 11:18 mark of the first half, lost 23 seconds with a 7-0 Georgetown run that brought the Hoyas a 25-18 lead at the 7:00 mark. The Hoyas hit a lull late in the first half, shooting 0 for 7 with five of its seven first half turnovers, as Creighton held a 28-26 lead with 2:42 to halftime.
The next three series proved the turning point of the game.
With Thomas Sorber bottling up center Ryan Kalkbrenner for much of the game, the Bluejays spent much of their efforts on the perimeter. Off a missed three from Ashworth with 1:55 to play, Caleb Williams found Curtis Williams Jr for a long three, 29-28, his second of the half and only his second three of the entire season. McAndrew missed a three at the 1:20 mark, rebounded by Peavy, who found Jordan Burks open in the corner for a three, 31-28. A missed shot from Ashworth was rebounded by Curtis Williams, whose shot fell short but Caleb Williams scooped up the rebound for a layup to close out an 8-0 run to end the first half, 34-28. Georgetown finished the first half shooting 5 for 8 from three, a season's best thus far, and holding the Bluejays to 32 percent shooting and just 4 for 13 from two point range.
"Georgetown was great, we were awful. They're a big reason why we were awful."--Creighton coach Greg McDermott, in post game remarks
Peavy repeated the theft and layup twice more in the next three minutes to extend the lead to 59-41 midway in the half, and an Epps thee put the Hoyas up 21, 62-41 at the 10 minute mark. A pair of concerning moments followed thereafter, when Epps and Sorber both went down with ankle injuries on consecutive GU series, but both returned later in the game. Four straight from Curtis Williams extended the Hoyas' lead to 21, 64-43, with eight minutes left.
With nothing inside, the Jays tried to get back in the game from the outside, to disastrous results. Creighton was 3 for 10 at this point from three, and was outrebounded 12-5 through 12 minutes. Despite three of its six second half threes coming in a three minute stretch, Creighton could not close inside 20 with five minutes to play, thanks to Georgetown shooting a largely uncontested 63 percent from the field after halftime. The Hoyas were 4 for 4 in the final 2:42 of play as the bench was emptied.
Micah Peavy came as close as anyone to earn the team's first triple double since 1991, finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and seven steals. His defensive work, particularly on Ashworth, was vital in Georgetown limiting Ashworth's impact from beyond the arc, though his 21 points led all Creighton scorers.
The Hoyas held the Bluejays to 40 percent shooting, 12 for 33 from three, held a 39-25 advantage on rebounding, 32-16 in the paint, and GU picked up 20 points from 16 Creighton turnovers, one short of the Jays' season high.
Georgetown could not have earned this convincing of a win without its best three point shooting effort against a Big East team since a February 20, 2021 game Seton Hall. This was a team that shot just 24 percent against Syracuse and averaged a lowly 27 percent for the season, but shot 10 for 16 (.625) this evening.
"I thought our defense today was outstanding," said head coach Ed Cooley in post game comments. "I thought it was the best defensive effort that we've had since our tenure here. I just thought that our attention to detail and our preparation was outstanding. I thought Micah Peavy and Jayden Epps set the tone defensively with our on-ball pressure, our interior defense, and our ability to be disruptive.
"Creighton is one of the best offensive teams in the country and led by one of the best bigs. I'm just really proud of all of our guys that stepped onto the floor tonight and all of our guys that contributed to an incredible win. It feels really good to get a win at home."
Here's the Georgetown half of the box score:
MIN 2FG 3FG FT REB A PF PTS
Starters:
Epps 32 2-6 5-6 2-4 3 2 1 21
Peavy 35 8-13 1-3 1-1 8 8 3 20
Ca. Williams 34 3-5 0-0 0-0 8 3 2 6
Fielder 24 2-3 1-1 0-0 2 0 2 7
Sorber 32 4-11 0-3 0-0 6 3 3 8
Reserves:
McKenna 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 3 0 1 0
Cu. Williams 11 2-4 2-2 2-2 2 0 0 12
Montgomery 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Burks 22 2-2 1-1 0-0 5 1 1 7
Team Rebounds 2
Injured: Mack, Halaifonua, Mulready, Moses
DNP: Fort, Asadallah, Van Raaphorst, Diouf
TOTALS 200 23-44 10-16 5-7 39 17 13 81
