DOGFIGHT: Georgetown Paces at #19 Butler for Hard-Earned Win, 73-66

The Georgetown Hoyas (5-7) beat the #19 Butler Bulldogs (7-6) in Indiana on Saturday afternoon, 73-66, with another day of solid shooting at Hinkle Fieldhouse and a lot of heart. Georgetown was 10-15 from three-point land and 25-48 overall from the field. Despite not playing McClung or Yurtseven, the Hoyas stole one in Indiana. The Hoyas worked hard to find the open man on every possession, and fought for every good look the stout Butler defense gave them.

Terrell Allen led with 22 points on 9-14 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Blair scored 16 points on 4-10 shooting (3-6 3PT) and 5 of 6 free throws. Mosely played 40 minutes, along with Blair and Allen, and scored 8 points on 2-4, with 4 free throws down the stretch. Pickett made 3 of his 4 threes and was 4-10 from the floor for 12 points, along with 6 rebounds. Georgetown made 25 of only 48 field goal attempts (52.1%) but remarkably nailed 10 of 15 threes (66.6%).

Butler’s Kamar Baldwin scored 17 points on 7-17 shooting, and Jordan Tucker (16 points, 4-10 from three) did some damage from behind the line in the first half. McDermott was only 2-10 from three from a combination of decent GU perimeter defense and some ill-advised shots in the comeback attempt. The Bulldogs were 25-61 (41%) from the field for the game and 9-32 (28.1%) from three.

The Hoyas began the game with mixed injury news as Mac McClung (foot) was ruled out, but Omer Yurtseven (ankle) was said to be playing with a new ‘doo. There was news he was OUT, then there was news Georgetown amended Yurtseven’s status and dressed him in a jersey—but everyone knew there was little chance he was coming in. Butler’s Aaron Thompson (concussion) and Derrik Smits (knee) did not play.

Qudus Wahab got his first career start, along with Jahvon Blair, Jagan Mosely, Terrell Allen, and Jamarko Pickett. Timothy Ighoefe got 12 minutes of run today, too.

These bulk-minutes-guys for the Hoyas earned a big W on the road in the nation’s toughest conference today. It was a dog fight.

First Half

Despite the outward appearance of starting lineup fluctuation, the Hoyas finally had the swift start they had been looking for with Terrell Allen scoring 7 points to get an 11-2 lead before Butler called timeout.

The Hoyas led 17-9 with 11 minutes left in the half and Timothy Ighoefe got in for about 3 minutes, a rebound, and a goaltending penalty. Each of Blair, Pickett, and Allen hit a three.

Ighoefe picked off a pass but did not get the baby-hook bucket to go one-on-one in transition. Blair got a case of Harden-happy-feet, but made another good looking three. Allen missed a floater and fouled in frustration. Wahab finished one of the best pick-and-rolls of the year, from Allen. Mosely missed a good look at a triple form the wing but Butler’s Khalif Battle hit his second open three and Pat Ewing called timeout with 7:36 left, GU up 22-19. Georgetown ‘s pace was generating opportunities. Butler appeared to be using some reserves—whether it was disappointment with the starters or LaVall Jordan saving up for a photo finish against Ewing skeleton squad was TBD.

The game was tied up at 22 with a three from Jordan Tucker, then a three from Allen, and then another three from Tucker 92-5 FGs at that point). Mosely hit two free-throws and Ewing called for a trap at halfcourt, which led to another Butler timeout 27-25 with 4:46 left in the half.

The Hoyas came out in zone and Baldwin air-balled a would-be-buzzer-beater three. Pickett missed yet another layup (0-3 2PT) and Wahab found one off of a rebound. Butler led on offensive rebounds 6-2 at this point, as well as total rebounds 15-10, but GU led 2-0 on second-chance points. With 3:31 left Butler was in a 2-minute scoring drought before the media timeout—GU up 29-25.

Each team illustrated their strategy in the next two possessions—penetrate and pass back out. Allen kept it for a two, but Butler kicked out to Tucker for a three. On the the other end, Pickett drew a foul on a (missed) layup and split the free-throws, 32-28 with 1:48 left. McDermott air-balled a three and Wahab missed on a post-move with a lot of no-called contact. Baldwin missed a jumper, as did Blair on the other end. Butler found Jordan Tucker on a curl around a pick for a three-pointer to head into the half, 32-31.

For the half, Georgetown was 11-24 from the field and 5-8 from beyond the arc. Butler shot 12-29 from the floor in the first half with 7-18 from beyond the arc. It felt like Butler was letting Georgetown shoot freely from beyond the arc, but Butler doubled them up on three attempts. Jordan Tucker (4-7 from three, 12 points in 15 min.) really kept the Bulldogs in the game. Baldwin was 3-8 FG and 1-3 3PT for 7 points.

Allen led with 12 points on 5-9 shooting with 2-2 three-pointers. Blair was 3-5 and 2-3 from three for 8 points. Mosely was 0-1 (a three) and 2-2 from the charity stripe. Both Allen and Mosely had 2 assists apiece. Wahab was 2-3 with two free-throws and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes. Pickett had 4 rebounds and 4 points and more than a couple missed opportunities. Neither Igohoefe (1 steal, 1 foul in 4 min) or Muresan (1 foul in 3 min) played well enough to spell Pickett.

Georgetown only had 2 turnovers and Butler had 4, but the Bulldogs out-rebounded the Hoyas 18-12 (6-2 offensive).

Second Half

Butler got their first lead 33-32 with two free-throws by Bryce Golden after Wahab fouled him. The teams traded missed jumpers and Golden was called for his third foul on a moving screen. Wahab picked up his second foul on a loose ball after Pickett was cleared out NBA-Jam-style, and Ighoefe got in the game and quickly fouled.

Neither team could buy a bucket until Pickett hit a three off of an Allen assist. Baldwin made a layup and Mosely made a pull-up tear-drop. Henry Baddley got his first points on a back-door baseline dunk. Blair missed a jumper and Mosely fouled before a media timeout, 37-37, with 15:00 left.

McDermott made a put-back (BU 8OReb so far) on a Tucker miss and Mosely found wahab underneath. Pickett got out and ran for an open one-handed jam and the Hoyas were up 41-39 with 13:30 left.

Mosely missed a tough layup on a baseline move and Wahab got the board after a one-handed throw of a Butler defender and kicked it to Pickett for an open three, to go up 44-39 with 13 minutes left. Baldwin made a jumper and Wahab drew a foul, but missed both fee-throws. Tucker bounced a pull-up deuce in to make it 44-43 with 11:30 left before a media timeout. Wahab made 1 of 2 free-throws after the break. Bryce Golden made a strong layup to tie it up at 45. Mosely turned it over and Battle missed a three, the Hoyas got out in transition, settled down, and Pickett found Wahab for a monster dunk (11 points at this point) down low to go up 47-45 with 9:36 left. Baldwin hit one penetrating to the elbow after Wahab failed to read which way he was going on the screen. Ewing called a 30-sec before the media timeout and started down the Q-man. Tied game 47-47 with 9:18 left.

Ighoefe came in. Mosely made an errant pass after Butler changed to zone. McDermott hit a three to go up three. Blair answered with another three over the zone off a pass from Mosely. Baddley missed a three and Bryce Nze got the rebound and was fouled by Big Tim (his third) before the media timeout, 50-50. Georgetown was scratching and clawing, just as Ewing wanted, but legs began to look tired. One would question whether they had enough in the tank to keep answering Butler.

Nze made one and missed a free-throw and Wahab rebounded and handed it off to Terrell Allen who gave it to Mosely and got it back to penetrate and finish in the lane. Baldwin drew a phantom foul on Mosely with 2 seconds left on the shot-clock as he kicked his feet out. The Mosely block was all-ball and disrespectful to kid who played tremendous defense all day. Baldwin gets the calls though, and made both free-throws.

Terrell Allen saved a busted play and the Hoyas worked the ball back around to him, with a Blair assist, for a triple to go up 55-53. Wahab got his fourth foul and Tucker made both free-throws. Allen missed a tough reverse layup and Ighoefe rebounded and made the put-back. Mosely picked up a steal on the heldball and got two points with a drive and layup on the next play, 59-55. Allen went for a steal and lost position as McDermott went in for a rare two-pointer. Allen dropped one down to Pickett who missed a layup and Tim Ighoefe got a nice tip-in. McDermott missed a three and Baldwin called timeout after getting an offensive rebound on the floor. Hoyas led 61-57 with 3:47 left.

Butler in-bounded to McDermott for three after the timeout. A solid play-call by LaVall Jordan. Allen drove for a tough two and the Hoyas were back up 63-60. Baldwin missed a three and Pickett get his fifth rebound. Jordan Tucker tried to take a charge from Ighoefe but he was in the arc (and moving), but Allen made a jump-pass to no one. play was stopped when Bryce Golden came out with a head injury, Butler went smaller with Khalif Battle, and Wahab replaced Ighoefe. Baldwin missed a drive with Wahab defended the rim and the put-back by Nze was waved-off as offensive interpolating. Georgetown worked the zone and Mosely found Terrell Allen for another three from the wing (22 points, 4-4 3PT at this point) and Georgetown was up 66-60 with 1:13.

McDermott missed a three and Battle missed another after a Baldwin three-pointer. Pickett got the board and was fouled. The foul game started and eventually Blair got to the line to make two—68-60 with :48 left. Tucker missed a three (finally) and Blair rebounded and was again fouled. It was high-five time as the Indiana crowd shuffled out. Georgetown made several more free throws and won the game 73-66.

Georgetown was 14-24 (58.3%) from the field and 5-7 (71%) from beyond the arc in the second half. They made 8 of 12 free-throws down the stretch. Allen was 4-5 in the half and 2-2 from three. Picket was 3-5 and 2-2 for threes. Wahab and Ighoefe were each 2-3 from the field in the half. Ighoefe’s four points matched Butler’s second-half bench scoring. Hoyas had 5 turnovers and Butler had 3 in the second half and GU edged Butler on second-half rebounds 16-15.

Butler shot 13-32 (40.6%) and 2-14 from three (14.3%), although many of the attempts from beyond the arc were Hail Mary’s in the last minute. Baldwin got 10 points in the half on 4-9 shooting. Tucker missed all three of his three-point shots in the half. McDermott was 2-6 from beyond the arc and also had 10 points in the half.

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Georgetown (5-7) returns home to face Providence (6-6) on Wednesday night at 8:30 pm on FS1.