The Georgetown men’s basketball team mounted a furious comeback attempt at Creighton University on Feb. 14, but ultimately lost 77-88. This marks the Hoyas’ 14th consecutive loss and they have yet to win a game in the Big East conference.

Monday’s matchup was the second in a row between Georgetown (6-19, 0-14 Big East) and Creighton (16-8, 8-5 Big East). The Bluejays came out on top 80-66 at Capital One Arena in the previous showdown Feb. 12.

Sophomore guard Dante Harris opened the scoring for both teams with a pull-up jumper on the Hoyas’ second possession of the game. He added a second pull-up with 17:30 remaining in the half, giving the Hoyas a 7-3 lead. 

At the under-16 media timeout, Creighton led 11-9. The two teams traded baskets over the next several minutes, with graduate guard Donald Carey finding junior center Timothy Ighoefe on a smooth dish for a dunk at the 12:44 mark.

With 10:49 remaining in the half, Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85) was handed a technical foul for accidentally tripping a Creighton player, giving the Bluejays two technical free throws. They converted both to go up 24-19, their largest lead of the night to that point. With an 8-4 run later, Creighton extended its lead to 32-23 with 6:33 to play in the half. It seemed as though the Bluejays were ready to put the Hoyas away.

Although Georgetown managed to hold off the Bluejays for a few minutes, cutting the lead to five points on a dunk from redshirt sophomore center Malcolm Wilson, their comeback was short-lived. Creighton connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to go out on a 16-4 run. Heading into halftime, the Bluejays held a commanding 48-31 lead.

Creighton opened the second half just as it closed the first, scoring quickly and leading 56-33 with 18:06 left in the game. Harris provided some necessary offense, hitting 2 short jumpers in a row to push his point total to 12 and bringing the Hoyas within 17 points of their opponents. After this short burst, Georgetown struggled to convert and watched the Creighton lead grow to 20 points with 12:51 remaining.

When Creighton slammed home a fast break dunk with 9:44 left in the game to push ahead 75-54, the game looked to be all but over. But, the Hoyas dug deep and found another gear to fight their way back into the game. They pushed the pace on offense and attacked the Bluejays in the paint, putting together a game-changing 21-6 run. With 2:45 remaining, Georgetown trailed by only 6 points and had all of the momentum going into the final stretch.

On two consecutive trips down the court, graduate guard Kaiden Rice missed 2 crucial 3-pointers and failed to cut the lead to a single possession. The Hoyas never managed to creep back any further and allowed Creighton to cushion their lead and win the game, 88-77.

This was another heartbreaking loss for the Hoyas. Although they managed some impressive runs, they ultimately fell victim to their inability to get stops on the defensive end. Creighton scores, on average, 31.4% of its 3-pointers yet shot 41.4% from beyond the arc against the Hoyas.

Georgetown first-year guard Aminu Mohammed turned in a career performance, with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Harris chipped in 23 points of his own. 

The Hoyas sought to earn their first conference win of the season and end their losing streak at Marquette University on Feb. 16, but ultimately fell 66-77. Georgetown’s next contest will come Feb. 19 at No. 10 Villanova University.