LINKS: Hoyas Host Huskies After Being Beat by Bluejays

Feb 3, 2023 - 4:00 PM

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Your Georgetown Hoyas (6-17, 1-11) lost another one to the Creighton Bluejays (14-8, 8-3), 63-53, and will face off against the Connecticut Huskies (17-6, 6-6) on Saturday at noon for Georgetown’s annual GRAY OUT game, broadcast on FS1.

Here are the links:

Hoyas Drop Midweek Matchup to Creighton | GUHOYAS

Georgetown University’s men’s basketball team cut the game to five late in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit as the Hoyas fell 63-53 to the visiting Creighton University Bluejays at Capital One Arena on Wednesday evening. A trio of Hoyas reached double figures in the game with Qudus Wahab leading the way with 14 points...

“You know when we have [Brandon Murray and Primo Spears] not scoring the way that they have been scoring for us, it’s hard for us to win. But I thought we locked in defensively. We held them to 63 points, they are a team that scores 70 something points. So we did a good job defensively, but like I said, offensively we took a step back.” - Head Coach Patrick Ewing on today’s game

“For the first time he practiced yesterday, played today. I thought he looked good, he got a little winded. I think it’s going to continue to get better for him.” - Ewing on Jay Heath’s return

Creighton picks up fifth straight win by defeating Georgetown on the road | OMAHA

Through the first 20 minutes, Georgetown attempted just five 3s, making two. The rest of the shots that accounted for their 26% from the field in the first half? Mostly composed of more than enough ill-advised midrange jumpers to give Ewing scabs from scratching his head.

Some of those by design with guard Primo Spears’ wild shot selection, otherwise due to sophomore guard Trey Alexander’s defensive prowess and junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner lurking to spook Spears into other poor shots

Spears and fellow starting guard Brandon Murray — Georgetown’s two leading scorers entering Wednesday at 17.1 and 14.6 points per game, respectively — were held to a combined 21 points 9-of-32 shooting.

Men’s Basketball Extends Win Streak With Victory at Georgetown | Go Creighton

Down 18-17 early, Creighton used a 9-0 run over 110 seconds to break open a close game. Ryan Kalkbrenner had a pair of lay-ups, Trey Alexander scored on a drive and Ryan Nembhard drained a triple to give CU a 26-18 lead and force a Hoya timeout with 4:26 left in the first half. The onslaught continued a minute later when Kalkbrenner dropped in an alley-oop from Alexander as the Bluejay lead reached double-digits (28-18) for the first time. A Scheierman trey in transition, another Kalkbrenner lay-up and a score by Alexander made it a half-ending 18-3 run as the Jays took a 35-21 lead into the break. It was the fourth time in CU’s last five games that the Bluejays owned a double-digit halftime lead...

The Hoyas opened the second half with a 20-11 spurt to draw within five (46-41) before a steal and score by Alexander pushed the Bluejay advantage to seven. Alexander then countered a Hoya answer with a three-pointer out of the eight-minute media timeout, then a drive to hoop as the lead returned to double-digits (53-43) with 7:20 remaining. Nembhard would follow with a step-back three-pointer to beat the shot clock to push the edge to 56-43 and seal the victory.

Creighton dumps Georgetown for fifth straight win | Field Level Media

Qudus Wahab finished with 14 points to lead the Hoyas (6-17, 1-11) in scoring for just the second time this season. Georgetown’s usually dependable scorers trudged through uncharacteristically sluggish shooting nights.

Primo Spears entered Wednesday’s contest with an average of 17.1 points per game that ranked second in the Big East, but neither he nor Brandon Murray (14.6 points per game) scored in the first half. The Hoyas missed 14 of their final 15 shots in the period’s final nine minutes and trailed 35-21 at the half.

Murray finished with 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting, while Spears slogged to a 10-point night on 5-of-18 shooting. Murray pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Seeking consistency, No. 24 UConn eyes sweep of Georgetown | Field Level Media

UConn averaged 82.9 points per game over its undefeated run and allowed more than 70 points just once in that span — an 84-73 home win against the Hoyas (6-17, 1-11) on Dec. 20.

But the crisp performances that vaulted the Huskies to their highest Top 25 ranking since 2009 have been scarce for the past month and UConn hasn’t won consecutive games since late December.

The Huskies have won two of their past three, most recently a 90-76 triumph at DePaul on Tuesday. Jordan Hawkins (26 points), Adama Sanogo (25) and Tristen Newton (21) spearheaded a UConn attack that bullied the Blue Demons for 42 points in the paint and a 38-25 rebounding edge.

UConn men’s basketball takes down DePaul, 90-76 | UConn Blog

While the defense looked lost at times, the Huskies forced 11 turnovers and blocked six shots, including an emphatic block by Hawkins in the second half. UConn also still dealt with foul trouble throughout the game, particularly with Sanogo and Karaban.

While Newton, Hawkins, and Sanogo did the heavy lifting, Nahiem Alleyne chipped in five points, his first game with more than one field goal in 2023. UConn also set season highs in free throw attempts (34) and makes (30), with Hawkins and Newton combining to shoot 20-22 from the line.

Takeaways: Tristen Newton is taking his game to the next level | UConn Blog

Something UConn has struggled with at times over the past few years has been closing out inferior opponents when they have a lead in the second half. They allowed Seton Hall to creep back in the game earlier this year which ended in a brutal one-point loss for the Huskies. With UConn up 19 in the second half last night with 12 minutes to go, it felt like the Huskies were about to blow the Blue Demons out of their own gymnasium a la the 2021 Big East tournament 34-point victory. DePaul then went on a 10-0 run and looked primed to challenge the Huskies on their home court for the rest of the game, cutting the lead down to eight with nine minutes remaining.

The UConn teams of the late 2010’s may have let DePaul claw all the way back into it but this squad held serve like a Big East contender would and punched right back, extending their lead back up to 19 and putting the game out of reach the rest of the way on the back of their top 3 scorers — Hawkins, Sanogo, and Newton — who scored all of UConn’s points in this stretch... They are the most trusted guys to go get a bucket when it’s needed most and make it a whole lot easier for UConn to bury bad opponents on the road.