In a season defined by the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, the Georgetown University men’s basketball team, plagued by mediocrity, suffered its third consecutive loss in a defeat to the Butler University Bulldogs.
Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley said the Hoyas remained unfocused for the majority of the game.
“I thought we played Hoya basketball for four minutes and 10 seconds today,” Cooley said at the postgame press conference. “For 36 minutes, it was a very lazy group, not connected defensively.”
The four minutes came too late for the Hoyas (13-13, 5-10 Big East), who fell 93-89 to the Bulldogs (14-13, 5-11 Big East) at Capital One Arena on Feb. 18, in a game defined by Georgetown’s inability to secure stops on the defensive end and score consistently from behind the arc.
The last time Butler and Georgetown squared off Jan. 31, the Hoyas ran away with a 77-64 win, placing Butler Head Coach Thad Matta’s 500th career win on hold. On Feb. 18, however, a lethargic defensive performance by the Hoyas — this matchup was their highest-scoring Big East game this season — ended the Bulldogs’ six-game losing streak and handed Matta the coaching milestone.
Off the tip, Butler — led by forward Michael Ajayi — immediately found holes in Georgetown’s shallow defense, hitting a series of midrange shots.
Junior guard Malik Mack countered with 5 of the Hoyas’ first 7 points, including the team’s only 3-pointer of the first half, to cut into Butler’s 13-7 lead at the first media timeout. The Hoyas would shoot 0-10 from the 3-point line in the remainder of the half.
Firing offensively, the teams traded possessions. With just under six minutes remaining in the first half, a layup by sophomore guard Kayvaun Mulready, followed by two dunks by sophomore center Julius Halaifonua, injected energy into a relatively lifeless arena. Halaifonua finished the game with 12 points and 3 rebounds, splitting minutes at center with senior Vince Iwuchukwu, who added 12 points and 2 steals.
Nonetheless, the Bulldogs always had an answer, and the Hoyas trailed 54-45 at half.
Aided by Georgetown’s lack of defensive effort, Butler shot an impressive 70% from the field in the first half and got to the free-throw line 12 times, making 8.
Cooley said that defensive effort never entered the building.
“For whatever reason, we left our defensive focus, our defensive toughness, our defensive teamwork,” Cooley said. “We left that at the Hilltop today.”
Still, the Hoyas managed to shoot 55.9% from the field in the first half, despite going 1-for-11 from the 3-point line. Junior guard KJ Lewis’ first-half stats — 3-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc — were reflective of the team’s overall offensive performance.
Less than a minute into the second half, Cooley unsuccessfully challenged an out-of-bounds call, a decision that proved pivotal for the Hoyas in a game decided by 4 points. In addition to a lost Georgetown timeout, Butler extended their lead to 12 points on a 3-pointer by guard Jamie Kaiser Jr. on the next scoring possession.
Over the next 14 minutes, Georgetown trailed by as many as 15 points, rarely cracking single digits. However, with 3:47 remaining in the second half, sophomore forward Caleb Williams hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Iwuchukwu followed with a short hook shot to cut the Hoyas deficit to 4 at 87-83.
A block by Iwuchukwu on the defensive end gave Georgetown an opportunity to bring the score within one possession. Yet, Lewis squandered the chance, dribbling the ball off his foot with 57 seconds remaining.
On Butler’s next possession, Lewis and Iwuchukwu met center Drayton Jones at the rim in what looked to be a clean block. However, the referees called a foul, and lacking a challenge, Jones stepped up to the free-throw line, hitting both and extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 89-83.
Mulready charged down the court, earning an and-1 and completing the 3-point play with 43 seconds remaining.
Leading 89-86, Butler’s leading scorer, guard Finley Bizjack, used all 30 seconds of the shot clock before missing a floater, which was rebounded by Kaiser Jr., forcing Georgetown to foul with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
Kaiser Jr. converted both free throws, and on the next Georgetown possession, Williams hit his third consecutive 3-pointer to cut the lead to 2 points with 5.5 seconds on the clock. Applying pressure on the inbounds, Mulready eventually fouled, sending guard Yame Butler to the line. He hit both, sealing the 93-89 Butler victory.
Williams led the Hoyas in scoring, tallying 16 points and 3 rebounds. Lewis added 15 points, while Mack finished with 10 points and 7 assists.
Summing up the Hoyas’ performance, Cooley said his players lacked the defensive intensity and intangibles necessary to win.
“We scored 89 points at home and lost,” Cooley said. “Honestly, that was the blind playing the blind defensive game. Again, we were just probably more blind.”
“They played more hungry. They played more passionate. They were connected, and they were more desirable to win,” Cooley added. “That’s all this game came down to.”
This loss marked Georgetown’s 10th Big East loss this season, five of which came by a margin of 5 points or fewer.
Attendance, as has become par for the course for weeknight games, was low with a near-empty student section. The listed attendance of 4,456 seemed to be perpetually in the concourse and not in their seats.
Cooley said that he does not expect students to attend if Georgetown continues to lose, referring to getting student fans as similar to recruiting.
“We at Georgetown haven’t had the success that we’ve wanted for about a decade,” Cooley told The Hoya. “You’ve lost two or three recruited classes, meaning the students on campus.”
“I love our students, but I also am very mindful and aware of what they’re thinking as well, especially when you’ve seen us lose a couple of really, really close games in this building or in someone else’s building,” Cooley added.
The Hoyas next travel to Newark, N.J., to take on Seton Hall University (18-9, 8-8 Big East) Feb. 21, looking to break the losing streak.
