Two big Creighton runs leave home Hoyas in the dust
Your Georgetown Hoyas (7-7, 0-3 BIG EAST) lost a not-so-close one on Tuesday to Creighton, 77-60. The Hoyas were without Jayden Epps, who was out with a leg injury. In a nutshell, Georgetown played one good half, and one not-so-great one. They were outrebounded 42-21 in the game.
Final Creighton 77, Georgetown 60
Hoyas couldn’t defend in the second half and drop to 7-7, 0-3.
Big one on Saturday. Depaul.
— Bobby Bancroft (@BobbyBancroft) January 3, 2024
Georgetown was led by Rowan Brumbaugh (19 pts, 5 assists) and Jay Heath (11 pts). No Hoya totaled more than 5 rebounds. Creighton was led by Trey Alexander (25 points, 3-5 3 PT), Baylor Scheierman (18 points, 12 rebounds), and Ryan Kalkbrenner (12 points, 9 rebounds).
The good half was the first one, as the Hoyas got off to a quick start on Tuesday, jumping out to an 11-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Georgetown was boosted by 9 first-half points from Jay Heath.
On fire. @TheRealJayHeath pic.twitter.com/mvjYvfQyxd
— BIG EAST MBB (@BIGEASTMBB) January 3, 2024
Creighton was led by Scheierman in the first, who had 10 points, and the Blue Jays led 28-24 at halftime. It was a promising start for a Hoyas team missing its best player, as they forced 11 Creighton turnovers. The game seemed close and even winnable.
It’s a 9-0 @BluejayMBB run pic.twitter.com/tquDlx3NvF
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) January 3, 2024
Halftime arrived, and Roy Hibbert was on the CBS halftime show. That was nice to see. It was the final bright spot for any Hoyas fan for the night.
The second half was the not-so-good one. Creighton went on a 12-0 run for four minutes in the second half to lead 49-31 with 12:27 left in the game.
Defense ➡️ Offense
@CBSSportsCBB#GoJays pic.twitter.com/Y3Lsv6HT8o
— Creighton Men’s Basketball (@BluejayMBB) January 3, 2024
Creighton continued to slowly extend its lead by playing through Senior Ryan Kalkbrenner. The Hoyas lack of size was very evident in the second half.
ALLEY-OOP TO KALKBRENNER @BluejayMBB pic.twitter.com/pI3AJnXdOi
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) January 3, 2024
Georgetown had 8 rebounds as a team in the second half, and the Blue Jays extended its lead to 24 with 5:41 left in the game (64-44). Georgetown went on a small run to cut the score to 70-57 with 1:55 left, but never got closer.
Not much more to say here, folks. The undermanned Hoyas were outclassed by a well-coached, experienced, fundamentally sound Creighton team. Even when accounting for Epps absence, Georgetown’s inability to rebound was jarring.
The Hoyas return to action on Saturday at Noon against DePaul. They are 3-10.