LINKS: Hoyas Head to Omaha to Face Creighton

The Georgetown Hoyas (16-10, 6-7) will visit the Creighton Bluejays (14-13, 5-9) on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 2:30PM EDT.

Here are the links:

Men’s Basketball Starts Homestretch By Hosting Georgetown on Saturday | GO CREIGHTON

Creighton ranks fifth nationally in three-point percentage (.401), sixth in three-pointers made per game (10.9), sixth in total three-pointers made (295) and 16th in field goal percentage (.486).

Creighton owns (sic) five men averaging 10.1 points per game or more, including sophomores Ty-Shon Alexander (16.5 ppg.) and Mitch Ballock (10.1 ppg.). The duo have combined for 152 three-pointers this winter.

Coming on strong of late is junior big man Martin Krampelj (12.7 ppg., 6.6 rpg.). He’s averaged 15.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in CU’s last 17 games with 44 dunks in that time.

Hoyas’ McClung looks to build on Villanova win | The Washington Times

“The biggest key for him is he’s a fearless competitor and a winner,” Creighton assistant coach Steve Merland said ahead of Georgetown’s visit to Creighton Saturday.

But what might be the most standout comment belonged to Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski back in January.

“The thing I love about Mac is that he knows he belongs,” Wojciechowski said.

Players to watch, three keys to victory for Creighton vs. Georgetown basketball | OMAHA

Three keys for Creighton ... 1. Rebound: It’s probably Creighton’s biggest concern. Because CU won’t have many second-chance opportunities AND Georgetown will possess that threat after each one of its misses. Govan is there — he picked up eight offensive boards in the last two games. The Hoyas also have height and length at the stretch-four spot (Josh LeBlanc and Trey Mourning), which will be problematic for the Jays when they operate out of a four-guard lineup.

To Kill a Bluejay: Hoyas Revenge Tour Heads to Omaha | Thompson’s Towel

Despite their periodic struggles this year, which have included 4-game losing streaks on two separate occasions, Creighton has flashed potential at times, including a 91-87 victory over the Hoyas during their January 21st matchup in D.C. Standout guard Ty-Shon Alexander was a focal point of the Bluejay offense that night, tallying 26 points, exceeding his season average of 16.5 per game. Alexander’s night included 6 three-pointers as his teammates rained down 7 more from deep, shooting almost 45% from beyond the arc on the evening.

Big East Basketball Rankings: Marquette holds strong, middle muddles | BUSTINGBRACKETS

7. Creighton Bluejays ... Creighton has really struggled in conference play so far this season. Despite entering 2019 as one of the Big East teams in strong position to make the NCAA Tournament, they have floundered to just 5-9 in conference play with two different four-game losing streaks. That is not exactly what head coach Greg McDermott had in mind during this campaign. On the whole, though, the Bluejays are one of the youngest teams in the nation and the future looks extremely bright for the program when you took a step back.

6. Georgetown [ouch]

MORNING AFTER: CREIGHTON SNAPS LOSING SKID BY HOLDING OFF LATE DEPAUL RALLY, WINS 79-67 | WHITEANDBLUEREVIEW

By the time the final four minutes rolled around, they had confidence to finish because they’d withstood earlier runs by DePaul to rebuild the lead. And then they closed out the win. Creighton’s played pretty good basketball the last two weeks — that’s an unpopular opinion in more pessimistic corners of the Bluejay fanbase, but a bad basketball team, or an average team playing bad basketball, isn’t going to have leads in the final four minutes of four straight games to blow...

DePaul had nine offensive rebounds in the first half, and nine second-chance points. They ended the game with 10 offensive boards — that’s just one in the second half — and nine second chance points (zero after halftime).

Creighton snaps losing streak with win over DePaul | BIGEASTCOASTBIAS

The Bluejays had a balanced scoring attack, as five Creighton players recorded double-figures on the score sheet. Ty-Shon Alexander had a team-high 16, Martin Krampelj had 14, Davion Mintz had 12, Marcus Zegarowski had 11, and Connor Cashaw had 10 (eight of which came in the first half). Mitch Ballock finished just outside the double-digit party with nine points...

The game was back and forth early on, but Creighton grabbed the lead midway through the first half and never looked back, pushing the lead to 11 going into the half after Alexander hit a three at the buzzer. While the Bluejays have had their late game woes of late, they didn’t present themselves Wednesday evening.