SHOOTOUT: Georgetown Outpaces #25 Creighton, 83-80

The Georgetown Hoyas (12-6, 2-3) beat the #25 Creighton Bluejays (13-5, 2-3) on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., 83-80.

While this one was never comfortable for Patrick Ewing, the Hoyas took the lead with about 15 minutes remaining in the game and only let the Bluejay-barrage get within one point, twice. Georgetown shot 31 for 60 (5-15 3PT), while Creighton was only 28-65 (42.2%; 13-32 3PT, 38.7%).

Omer Yurtseven led for the Hoyas with 20 points on 9-14 shooting. Yurtseven’s touch was solid from 7-10 feet out tonight and had 5 of his 13 rebounds on the offensive end. McClung suffered from foul trouble but came away with 7-14 (1-4 3PT) and 19 points, with 5 assists. Jagan Mosely increased his aggressiveness and scored 11 points in the second half. Jamorko Pickett had 9 points on 3-10 field goals and 0-4 three pointers, Jahvon Blair scored 12 points in 23 minutes (4-9 FG, 2-4 3PT), and Terrell Allen (who left a minute early with an apparent illness) scored 10 points (4-6 FG, 1-2 3PT) in 26 minutes, with 5 assists, as well.

Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski had 21 points on 6-11 from three and Denzel Mahoney scored 19 points (6-11, 3-4 3PT) off the bench. Ty-Shon Alexander was 2-10 from three but still scored 14 points (6-16 FG), and Mitch Ballock was held two only two threes (2-6).

First Half

The first half was uptempo basketball with both teams trading baskets. Georgetown had a 7-3 run to make it 16-11, but went scoreless for four minutes to find themselves down 16-20. Omer Yurtseven made a jumper off of an assist from Jagan Mosely to tie it at 20 with under 9 minutes to go before the baskets went back and forth.

The Hoyas looked to be stuck at 27 , as Creighton got to 31, with George Muresan playing four minutes due to McClung’s two fouls. Patrick Ewing brought Mac McClung back in and McClung scored 4 more points (7 pts for the half, 3-7 FG, 1-3 3PT).

At the end of the half McClung found Yurtseven for big jam, however, Yurtseven missed the dunk after some minor contact and rushing to beat the shot clock.

GU was down 36-37 at halftime. Yurtseven scored 10 points on 4-7 and had 3 rebounds. Georgetown shot 13 for 28 from the field (46.4%) and 3 for 9 from three. McClung, Allen, and Blair each hit a three. The Hoyas turned the ball over 8 times, with McClung owning 4 of them. GU had 8 assists. Georgetown was up on the rebounding battle 19-14.

Zegarowski led for the Bluejays with 11 points on 3-8 shooting (3-6 from three). Creighton shot 13 for 31 from the field (42%) and 6 for 16 (37.5%) from three. The Bluejays had 8 assists and 7 turnovers. Mitch Ballock failed to score and missed both attempted threes, but Denzel Mahoney had 10 points (3-7 FG, 2-2 3PT) off of the bench.

Second Half

Foul trouble was on everyone’s minds as the second half started, especially with Mac McClung catching his third personal foul within the first 40 seconds. The game was tied at 38 with about 19 minutes left after McClung drew a foul and made a free-throw. Creighton had its last lead at 45-40 on a three-pointer by Marcus Zegarowski (6-11 3PT, 54.5% for the game) before McClung made a jumper, Mosely slammed one home, and Allen had a three-point-play on a driving layup to go up 47-45 with 15 minutes left. Creighton could only get to within 1 point (twice).

The teams traded buckets, until it was 56-55 with 11:05 left and McClung was getting a breather. Again they traded ponts and GU found themselves up 63-61 with 7:40 left and McClung came back in. Georgetown went on a 7-0 run, but was met with a 8-0 run supplied by Ty-Shon ALexander with a jumper and a three, followed by Mitch Ballock’s first bucket—a three—to make it 70-69, Georgetown with 3:49 left.

McClung and Mosely responded with two floaters, and Ballock hit another three to make it 74-72 with 2:44 left. Yurtseven hit another jumper and Mahoney scored a deuce off of a missed Alexander three to make it 76-74 before McClung scored once more. At 78-74, Yurtseven rebounded a Zegarowski miss and Hoyas fans felt pretty good as Creighton began the foul scramble. The Hoyas finished out with a handful of made free throws, while Creighton hit two more threes to make the score look better as the time ran out.

Georgetown was 18 for 32 from the floor (56.3%) and 2 for 6 from three in the second half. The Hoyas had 10 assists and 6 turnovers in the half. Yurtseven was 5 for 7 and Mosely was 4 for 5 (1-1 3PT) in the half. Creighton was 15 for 34 for field goals (44.1%) and 7 for 16 from three (43.8%) in the latter half, with 10 assists and 3 turnovers.

In the end, Georgetown shot the ball well against a team that typically forces opponents to shoot from bad spots. Yurtseven accentuated his good match-up by shooting well from the floor and not engaging in unnecessary low post physicality. McClung, though in foul trouble, kept his aggressiveness and made important free-throws.

The Hoyas handled the pace well with only 6 turnovers in the second half (14 total). Everyone (except Pickett and Muresan) shot 50% or better. At times, there were shots selected by McClung and Pickett that boggled the mind, but Allen, Blair and Mosely had a healthy doses of runners and layups. Having 6 guys with 9 or more points should get you a win not matter who the opponent, but Creighton can certainly pour it on at the other end.

Georgetown took care of business at home for another win against a top-25 team. Ewing got his first win against Coach Greg McDermott and the Creighton Bluejays. The Hoyas’ hopes of making the tournament survive another day.