GAME THREAD: No. 19 Creighton at Georgetown

Unlike the Kansas City Chiefs, your Georgetown Hoyas get a chance to immediately bounce back from a loss on Sunday when they face No. 19 Creighton tonight for the second time in a week.

Game 15: No. 19 Creighton (14-5, 10-4) at Georgetown Hoyas (5-9, 3-6)

When: Tonight 9pm

Where: McDonough Gymnasium

Series: Hoyas trail 9-8

Last meeting: Just last week the Hoyas went to Omaha and picked up their biggest victory of the season in an 86-79 win. Jahvon Blair scored 22 points while knocking down 5 of 8 3-pointer and Jamorko Pickett had 16 points and seven boards. Chudier Bile had four steals in his first start.

TV: CBS Sports Nework (Andrew Catalon & Steve Lappas)

Radio: The Team 980, SiriusXM 386, Radio.com (Rich Chvotkin, 47th season)

KenPom Ranking: Creighton 20, Georgetown 96

KenPom Projection: Creighton 78, Georgetown 71 (72 percent)

Line: Creighton -7.5, o/u 151.5

PREVIEW

‘It’s been so long since last we met’ is not something that can be said about tonight’s meeting between the Hoyas and Bluejays. If it feels like they just played, well, it’s because they did.

Since this game is fresh in all of our mind’s let’s do a quick recap of what we just saw. Bile got his first start and was a problem with four steals. This was big because Georgetown is one of the worst teams in the country in forcing turnovers while Creighton is one of the better teams in protecting the rock.

We also saw one of the best games for both Blair and Pickett. The seniors made 9 of 14 shots from deep. Pickett grabbed seven rebounds while handed out seven dimes.

Afterwards coach Patrick Ewing said Blair had one of his better games as a defender.

The Hoyas held Creighton to 10 for 26 from behind the arc including just a 4 for 14 performance after the break.

Denzel Mahoney (22 points) and Mitch Ballock (16 points) were pretty efficient on offense but Georgetown held Marcus Zegarowski to 14 points on 11 shots.

And if you listened to the most recent episode of Kente Korner - and I’m sure you did so thanks so much - you know what my favorite stat of this game was and it’s not even close.

Timothy Ighoefe was +19 in eight minutes on the floor. That seems impossible but it happened. This goes to a larger point that I was way off on in the first match-up and that has to do with Ewing playing more small ball. Ewing stuck with a traditional center on the florr at all times and it worked. While I still like the idea of going smaller at times with Pickett, Bile and maybe even some Jamari Sibley, it’s clear that forcing Creighton to try and defend the post can work.

While nearly everyone would have taken a 1-2 record in what is the most difficult three-game stretch any BIG EAST team will have this season, the Hoyas have a real shot at going 2-1.

WAHAB HONORED

Qudus Wahab became the fifth Hoya this season to earn a BIG EAST honor. After coming off the bench for the first time against Providence on Jan. 30, the sophomore big was back as a starter in a 1-1 week for the Hoyas. Wahab made 13 of 20 shots last week and also matched a career-high against one of the best teams in the country in Villanova to land on the Weekly Honor Roll.

PLAYING FAVORITES

Blair leads the Hoyas in scoring and is fourth in the conference in average at 17.6. While it’s unlikely that Blair gets a ton of consideration for 1st team all league unless the Hoyas go on a run, he’s got at least one important vote of confidence.

Blair responded accordingly.

NOTES

The Hoyas are 5-2 at home against Creighton ….Pickett continues to lead the league in rebounding at 8.4 boards per game....Georgetown last beat two ranked opponents in a week’s time back at the end of January 2017....Blair (186) needs four more 3-pointer to move into 3rd place on the school’s all-time list....Pickett (155) could jump from 11th into 9th place with three made 3s tonight...

COUNTDOWN TO 1,000

Blair needs to hit his season average of 17 tonight to become the 48th player in Georgetown history to crack the 1,000-point mark. Pickett is up to 973 so he’s probably a few games away. Ewing’s first two recruits are set to become the first classmates to become 1,000 point scorers since Georgetown greats Austin Freeman and Chris Wright accomplished the feat a decade ago.

Bobby’s Prediction

Georgetown 82, No. 19 Creighton 80

Ewing wasn’t into moral victories after the Villanova loss but it does seem like the positive momentum can continue even after the winning streak was stopped.

Leave your witty (and non-witty) in-game comments here!

HOYA SAXA!