The Casual Awards: That Shit Creigh-ton

Well, that was stressful. After a 1-3 start to conference play, your Hoyas absolutely could not afford to lose another game, especially a home tilt against a middle-of-the-conference foe. And guess what? They didn’t.

Following roughly thirty-five minutes of tight, back and forth action, Georgetown secured a nine point lead with five minutes to go. And then Creighton stormed back with an 8-0 run. The wheels seemed like they were about to fall off the wagon, but somehow, however improbably, your Hoyas held on for dear life despite a late barrage of Creighton threes, to survive.

Make no mistake about it: We know it’s early in the season, but we needed to win this game. And even though sloppy turnovers nearly gave us multiple heart attacks, we pulled it off and moved back to the middle of the pack in the Big East. This victory — Ewing’s first ever win against Creighton — will hopefully give us a little bit of momentum heading into Saturday’s equally important home game against the Fighting Wojos of Marquette.

In honor of this hard-fought victory, we’re handing out hardware to those most deserving. Away. We. Go.

The Chris Wright Heart of a Champion Award:

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Omer Yurtseven.

We’ve been waiting for a game like this from Omer during Big East play. Taking advantage of an undersized Creighton frontcourt, he hit baseline jumpers, he hit baby hooks, he hit free throws, and he secured a number of big rebounds. Against a team that lacked a strong interior presence, Yurtseven went to work and put up an impressive 20 points and 13 boards.

This is what the Big Yurt should probably be doing every damn game. He’s arguably the most skilled big man in the conference. And when our guys take the time to feed him the ball after he establishes position in the post, good things happen.

Get Yurt the ball. We are all HURTIN’ FOR A YURTIN’..

(By the way, his five offensive rebounds negate that missed dunk he had just before the half. But for real, big fella, please stop missing dunks. Go up strong and use two hands. You’re too beastly to miss bunnies. Also, get a haircut)

The Michael Carter-Williams Award for Stealing a Bathrobe Award:

Marcus Zegarowski.

Remember when MCW stole a bathrobe and gloves from a Lord & Taylor department store? Yeah, that was fun. Syracuse didn’t suspend him for the season. He continued to play because that seemed like the classy thing to do.

Well...Marcus Zegarowski is not only an uber-talented sophomore guard on Creighton who absolutely killed us. He’s also Carter-Williams’s brother.

All we can do is laugh at this guilt by association. We certainly can’t criticize his game. He scored 20 points (including six threes) and had seven assists. We couldn’t guard him. It was frustrating.

But seriously, go borrow your brother’s stolen bathrobe and kindly leave our nation’s capital.

The Jason Momoa Award for Looking Good While Rocking a Man Bun Award:

Omer Yurtseven AND Christian Bishop.

Bro. Two man buns on the court at the same time. We were perspiring so hard at the sheer elegance of those flowing locks.

Basketball can often be a beautiful game when the ball is moving, the players are rotating, and the ball is going through the net. But when two giants on the hardwood decide to bless us with their perfectly coiffed MAN BUNS, the game reaches a standard of courtliness that hardly seems to exist anymore.

Keep that hair in a tight bun, fellas. You don’t want those strands to get in your eyes.

The Carey Mahoney Award for Being Named Mahoney:

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Denzel Mahoney.

Because his name is Mahoney. And because he scored a ridiculous 19 points in 25 minutes off the bench. We couldn’t check this guy at all. Made no sense. But that’s ok because Mahoney in the Police Academy movies was the man. The shenanigans he pulled off against Colonel Harris were legendary! Remember when he super glued Harris’s hands to his head while he was showering? Yeah you do. Because you like 80s classics.

The Jagan Mosely Award for Playing All 40 Minutes Award:

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Jagan Mosely.

It’s true. He played all 40 minutes. He didn’t have a choice. On a night in which Mac and Terrell were in foul trouble, Jagan stayed on the court and did his thing. He chipped in with an impressive 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. It seemed like all of his baskets came in the final ten minutes. Each basket down the stretch, including that massive three-pointer, kept us ahead during our final stretch run.

And oh, by the way, he posterized another dude. Not sure what it is about Jagan, but when he wants to dunk like a man, he dunks like a man. He doesn’t dunk like a boy. Because he’s a grown ass New Jersey man. In lieu of video of that dunk [HoyaSaxual is on her honeymoon] here’s a throwback jam

[SwordOfBrunner note: Imagine thinking we should play walk ons instead of Jagan Mosely. Couldn’t be me]

The Michael Beasley Award for Being Lousy Perimeter Defenders:

Everyone on Georgetown. Our whole team.

We’re getting a little tired of this. Why does it feel like every team we face has an amazing shooting night? Why did Providence hit TEN THREES in the first half against us? Why did Villanova hit TEN THREES in the first half against us? Why are we ranked like 290th in the country when it comes to defending the perimeter? And we don’t even make up for it with hilarity like Beasley would drop:

And, of course, how did we allow Creighton to hit 13 THREES against us on Wednesday night? We’re not happy about the shoddy perimeter defence. It’s been this way for five years now. It’s disheartening, deflating, and downright disgusting. DEFEND THE PERIMETER, FELLAS. And please stop running the high hedges with Yurt. They don’t work.

Please and thank you.

The Philadelphia Eagles “Next Man Up” Award:

Your Georgetown Hoyas?

We don’t care for the Eagles and we don’t care for injuries and we don’t care for underdog stories that result in mediocrity.

Dear basketball gods, we have already lost four players this season. And another one missed a game with an eye injury. We have a small roster and a tight bench. We can’t afford any more DNPs.

While we’re not exactly sure what the hell happened to Terrell Allen in the last ten seconds of the game, we saw him face down near the bench, clutching his face, and then being escorted to the locker room. Why can’t we ever have nice things? Can’t we just enjoy this little victory for five damn seconds before having a panic attack over whether TA will miss a game and ruin our season?

NEED MORE XANAX.

The 2017 Houston Astros Award for Being Cheating Cheaters Who Stole a World Series from the Yankees Award:

The 2018 Boston Red Sox.

And speaking of cheaters, will the NCAA ever pass judgment on all of those cheating NCAA teams? Remember when Sean Miller was caught red-handed talking about paying high school players to come to Arizona? We do. And yet, Sean Miller still has a job. Bill Self has one too. And dudes like James Akinjo don’t seem to care. He’d rather play for a soon-to-be-sanctioned program than play for us. And that makes us sad.

The Michael Jordan Award for Soldiering Through a Basketball Game Even Though You have the Flu:

Mac McClung and Terrell Allen.

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Dude. In typical Georgetown closed media style, it wasn’t until after the game when it was finally revealed that at least two of our guys, McClung and Allen, hadn’t practiced in the last few days because of the flu. And that is also why TA collapsed near the end of the game and received an IV in the locker room.

With this nugget of info, we can view this game in a different light. Somehow, despite playing with some form of the flu, Mac and Allen combined for 29 points and ten assists. They each played under 30 minutes, presumably due to foul trouble, but for them to push through the obvious discomfort (reflected in Mac’s now-understandable grimaces and TA’s end-of-game collapse) was pretty remarkable. We should appreciate each of Mac’s clutch mid-range jumpers near the finish and perhaps dismiss some of his six jittery turnovers.

Tip of the cap to these two guys. A gutty performance. In normal circumstances, they might’ve sat out. But this year’s squad is too thin for anyone to take a night off. So thanks for soldiering through a la MJ.

[SwordOfBrunner note: MJ was hungover. and Curt Schilling’s sock had ketchup on it. jet fuel can’t melt steel beams bro]

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So, here we go. Five games into the Big East season and your Hoyas are 2-3. But two of those losses were on the road against the two best teams in the conference (Seton Hall and Villanova). And one of those losses happened when Mac was out with an eye injury. So really, we’re still right where we need to be after this brutal opening stretch.

But in this conference, no team has time to breathe. And Saturday’s game — a home contest against Marquette — is every bit as important as this one. If we are going to finish 10-8 or 9-9 and put ourselves in relatively good shape to make the Tournament for the first time since 2014-15, we NEED to win games like this one. We need to win at home, especially against middle-of-the-pack teams like Marquette.

Don’t get cocky. Don’t get overconfident. Just come out hungry and angry and ready on Saturday. And let’s go out there and get another one. It’s time for the mother effing GRAY OUT.

Let’s go Hoyas. Beat Marquette.