Making field goals is generally a key aspect to winning basketball games. Generally.
The Georgetown University men’s basketball team shot under 35% from the field, including an atrocious first-half shooting performance with just 4 made 2-pointers. Nevertheless, key 3-pointers, strong defense and great performances from junior guards KJ Lewis and Malik Mack and senior center Vince Iwuchukwu ruled the day to secure the win for the Hoyas over the Creighton University Bluejays.
Georgetown (13-10, 5-7 Big East) started slow but controlled the second half to avenge a harrowing January overtime loss and take down Creighton (12-11, 6-6 Big East) by a final score of 76-68 Feb. 4 at Capital One Arena.
Near-empty arenas have become all too common for the Hoyas’ home weeknight games, and that lack of energy transferred onto the home team early. The announced attendance of 4,380 made very little impact until the game’s closing minutes.
To kick off the game, Georgetown took the opening tip, but Creighton forward Jasen Green, playing as a center, stole the ball and scored the first basket to open up a 2-0 Creighton lead.
The lack of energy showed up in the Hoyas’ early shooting numbers, too. The Hoyas struggled from inside almost immediately, as they would most of the game.
After the game, Mack said the team’s two previous games, on the road in front of hostile crowds, presented an easier mental challenge than playing in front of many empty seats at home.
“We like going on the road,” Mack told The Hoya. “A large crowd gives us a boost of energy, just seeing that crowd out there, and wanting to make them not be as loud.”
“It would mean a lot to have that at our home arena,” he added.
After the opening foray, little of note happened in the next 10 minutes. The Bluejays kept a narrow early lead, but a 3-pointer for sophomore forward Caleb Williams took the lead at 11-10. Still, shots remained hard to come by. For a prolonged stretch going into the under-8 timeout, the two teams combined shot an atrocious 3-20 from the field.
Then, in a pattern that held for the rest of the game, Georgetown got red hot from beyond the arc. Going into the under-4 timeout, the Hoyas were 4-9 from long-range while the Bluejays were 0-9.
However, Creighton stayed with Georgetown. After a 7-0 run, the Bluejays took a 29-27 lead into the half.
Head Coach Ed Cooley said that at the break, Georgetown discussed coming out with a more cohesive offense.
“At halftime, I appreciated what the men were saying in the locker room to each other before the coaches came in,” Cooley said during the post-game press conference. “They said, ‘Keep our composure. We didn’t play well in the first half, but we’re right where we want to be. We’re only down 2. We didn’t play our best basketball,’ and they responded in a resounding way in the second half.”
The Hoyas took advantage of the fresh start out of the break and caught fire from beyond the arc. A couple of 3-pointers along with a few strong slams from Iwuchukwu led to a 10-0 run and a 43-34 lead, forcing Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermott to spend a timeout in a bid to stop Georgetown’s momentum. While Georgetown did not go on another such run, the team held that lead for the remainder of the game.
In the final moments, though, the Hoyas let their feet off the gas slightly — they stopped scoring and the Bluejays made a few 3-pointers — but the lead ultimately remained too steep for Creighton to crawl back into the game.
Notably, Georgetown never truly settled into the paint — except for Iwuchukwu — scoring only 26 points from inside. As the Hoyas relied more heavily on the mid- and long-range, both Mack and Lewis shined. Lewis recorded 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 5 steals. Mack had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Despite recording only 1 basket in the first half, Iwuchukwu ended with a double-double on 14 points and 10 rebounds.
After the game, Cooley praised his team’s second half performance, saying his squad controlled the period even with allowing the late Bluejay run.
“I thought we landed the plane in a really good way,” Cooley said. “It got a little sketchy late, but we made free throws, and I’m really proud of our men.”
Cooley also lobbied for an extra year of eligibility for Iwuchukwu, who missed a significant portion of this season for a medical procedure and some of his first season at the University of Southern California after suffering a cardiac arrest, saying the changing state of college athletics justified granting Iwuchukwu a waiver to the four-year maximum.
“If I was on the NCAA committee, I would say ‘hell yeah,’” Cooley said. “That waiver will go through, and hopefully they do the right thing, given what his health status has been. I think they will do the right thing given where the landscape is.”
The Hoyas next return in front of what should be a fuller crowd at home against Villanova University (17-5, 8-3 Big East) on Feb. 7 at 12pm.
