Creighton Dismantles Georgetown For First Win in Nation’s Capital

Davion Mintz’s 3-pointer, which came just 30 seconds into Saturday afternoon’s game between the Creighton Bluejays (13-3, 3-1 Big East) and Georgetown Hoyas (11-4, 1-3 Big East), set the stage for a Creighton shooting clinic, as the Bluejays made 16 3-pointers en route to a 90-66 victory over the struggling Hoyas.

Mintz combined with Toby Hegner to score the Bluejays’ first 12 points, all of which came from 3-point field goals. Martin Krampelj added a layup shortly after, giving Creighton a double-digit lead, 14-3, less than five minutes into the game. While the Hoyas were able to prevent the lead from expanding in the following ten minutes, they were unable to muster any sort of offensive rhythm, rendering early comeback attempts futile. Turnovers plagued the Hoyas once again, as they committed nine in the first half, many of which were unforced. While Creighton managed just eight points off these turnovers, the team ran its offensive sets to perfection with precise ball movement and lethal shooting. This offensive potency came to a head in half’s final five minutes, with Hegner drilling two 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 24 with 1:17 remaining. Georgetown utilized a fullcourt trapping defense to close out the half, which resulted in a quick 6-0 run.

At the intermission, Creighton held a comfortable 45-27 lead. The Bluejays assisted on 16 of their 17 made field goals in the half, and made more 3-pointers (10) than the Hoyas did field goals (8).

“Ball movement moves the defense,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “That’s what I dream about at night when I think about this team. If we can play unselfish basketball, we’ve got a chance to be pretty special.”

“We just didn’t do a good job of handling their 3’s,” Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said. “They were doing a good job of spreading us out and then hitting the 3’s.”

The second half began exactly as the first half had, but this time it was Marcus Foster, Mintz and Krampelj connecting on 3-pointers. Jamorko Pickett answered with two of his own for Georgetown, but Creighton’s balanced scoring attack picked apart the Georgetown defense for the remainder of the game. 12 Bluejays played in the second half, 11 of whom made at least one field goal, and Creighton opened a 32-point lead, their largest of the game, with two minutes to play. Georgetown closed the game on an 8-0 run, capped by two free throws from Kaleb Johnson.

Creighton attempted a season-high 36 3-pointers on the day, making 16 of its attempts. The team shot 48.5 percent from the field, as four players, Hegner, Mintz, Khyri Thomas and Krampelj, recorded double-figures. Georgetown, on the other hand, shot just 6-23 from deep and 36.5 percent from the field. Jessie Govan recorded seven points and five rebounds, both season lows, while Marcus Derrickson played just 15 minutes due to a facial injury he suffered on Tuesday night at DePaul.

Creighton will host Butler (12-4, 2-1 Big East) and Georgetown will travel to St. John’s (10-6, 0-4 Big East) for a pair of Jan. 9 games.