LINKS: Creighton Blows By Georgetown in Three-for-All

The Georgetown Hoyas (5-12) dropped their fifth straight to the Creighton Bluejays (12-5) on Wednesday night. Whether it was the poor Fox RSN coverage, GU’s struggles, or Creighton’s inevitable bounce-back after a road beatdown by St. John’s, Hoyas fans don’t seem too interested today.

This 15-point loss certainly doesn’t call for a referendum on the state of the Georgetown program—but if the Xavier game was a microcosm of the season, the Creighton game was a caricature.

It was another slow start by the Hoyas. An opponent hit 17 threes on 47%. Pickett shot 5-16, Blair was 8-23, and the grad point guard shot 2-10, only hitting a pair of threes. How can one expect to win if your glue-guy shot 60%, but only attempted 5 shots (yes, he’s likely playing injured). Wahab finally stays out of foul trouble and gets his first double-double, but he’s underused in the post because Hoyas need quick comeback points. Also, there was a totally random alley-oop that may be the top highlight of the season.

If there is a takeaway from this game it’s that Georgetown’s three point issues aren’t getting any better and even the simplest of metrics are likely pushing opponents to attempt even more threes against the Hoyas:

Yes, the Bluejays were shooting lights-out, but why wouldn’t a team take 35 threes against Georgetown—especially with this skeleton squad defending? Creighton’s 36 three-point attempts were its highest of the season and the only count above 30 in BIG EAST play outside of the game at Georgetown (32 attempts), of course.

The Hoyas host Villanova on Saturday for the finale; will the Wildcats hit 20 threes? Maybe. Why not try? (The Div. I record apparently is 28 threes by Troy against George Mason in 1994, on 74 attempts, although D-III Grinnell made 42 of 88 in 2018).

Here are the links:

Creighton blows out Georgetown, sets up Senior Day showdown with Seton Hall | KMTV

The Creighton men’s basketball team blew out Georgetown on Wednesday night in Omaha, 91-76.

Greg McDermott’s team hit a season-high 17 three-pointers & was led by Mitch Ballock and Marcus Zegarowski, who both scored 20 points.

Creighton basketball hit 17 3-pointers in win over Georgetown, giving Jays a shot at Big East title | Creighton | Omaha.com

Junior Ty-Shon Alexander sprinted around a screen, caught a pass on the run and fired up a 3-pointer on Creighton’s first play of the game Wednesday night. It was, technically, an open look... The net barely moved. Then he hit his next one 30 seconds later.

No. 11 Creighton had a 14-5 lead before Georgetown could get settled into the game. Ballock cashed in a fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner and forced coach Patrick Ewing to call his first timeout...

No. 11 Creighton lets 3s fly in 91-76 win over Georgetown – Sports | Odessa American

“It has a huge impact when you lose two guys who can get 30 on any given night,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said. “We’re trying to manufacture points. Right now I’m trying to keep our guys’ heads up, keep their spirits going” ...

Ballock hit a pair of 3s to make it 60-39 and another after the Hoyas scored eight straight points to get within 62-49. That started a 15-6 spurt that finished off the Hoyas.

Creighton overcame Georgetown’s size advantage and foul trouble with 9-for-19 3-point shooting in the first half...

“We tried multiple defenses — matchup, switching, pressing,” Ewing said. “We tried everything but the kitchen sink. When a team’s as hot as they were, nothing worked.”

Creighton is having fun, making all the 3s and ready for a March Madness run – The Athletic | The Athletic

The origins of the Hit-and-Chase series are vague. McDermott saw NBA teams use it regularly, although he can’t cite a specific lightbulb-flickering-on moment or game...

The principles of it are simple enough: A team’s nominal 5-man sprints to the 3-point line and receives a pass from one of the guards. That activates an attack in which every player is working from the perimeter in ... as McDermott puts it, the Hit-and-Chase allows basketball players to be basketball players.

“Basically we’re just popping that center to the top of the floor, and you’re five-out,” the Bluejays coach says... “Now you’re going to pass it to the big and you can make a read. You can back-cut it. You can fake a back cut and come right back for a handoff. A lot of times, if there’s a handoff, teams shoot under that. If they shoot under it, the guy has the option to shoot it. Otherwise, we re-screen it, and we’re playing with the floor spread with a lot of guys who can shoot it”...

Against man, against zone, against a press, it doesn’t matter on this particular evening. Creighton gets everything, as an exasperated Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing puts it during his postgame debriefing.

Hoyas’ NCAA hopes continue to fade after loss at Creighton | NBC Sports Washington

Jahvon Blair led the Hoyas with 22 points, Jamorko Pickett had 17, and freshman Qudus Wahab had his first double-double with season highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Ballock, all but invisible in a loss at Georgetown in January, hit a pair of 3s to make it 60-39 and another after the Hoyas scored eight straight points to get within 62-49. That started a 15-6 spurt that finished off the Hoyas.

Creighton overcame Georgetown’s size advantage and foul trouble with 9-for-19 3-point shooting in the first half.

Georgetown Falls at No. 11/14 Creighton | GUHoyas

”They were getting everything. They were getting 3’s, they were also getting drives to the basket. In the first half, I think they had 14 second-chance points. When they are getting everything, it’s hard to beat them. When you lose two guys - either one of them can get 30 on any given night - it’s hard. So we’re trying to manufacture points...

We have one more game and it’s going to be a tough game but anything can happen. Then it’s the new season. The new season starts at the BIG EAST Tournament. Anything can happen in the BIG EAST Tournament.”

- Head Coach Patrick Ewing