Georgetown defeats Butler, 87-83

It might be a case of a typical Tuesday night in the Big East. Typical as in there is no such thing as a dull night in the conference, as the Georgetown Hoyas made their way to Indianapolis to take finish off their regular season series against the Butler Bulldogs.

The Hoyas were riding into this game fresh off a weekend victory over the Seton Hall Pirates. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, were seeking to reverse course and stop the rut on a late-season losing streak that has so far seen them lose to the DePaul Blue Demons and Villanova Wildcats.

In the end though, it would be Georgetown seizing victory from the jaws of defeat, defeating Butler, 87-83. I say jaws of near defeat because the Hoyas came well close to coughing this one up. Even with Georgetown having built a double-digit lead at one point of 79-65 with roughly six minutes left to play, the door or window was still open for Butler to find a way to get back into this game and take this one back.

It was, in the best way, Georgetown doing a smash and grab on the road. Then, suddenly, Butler tried to steal back the game. And, for everyone involved, it makes for a fun night of basketball.

Tonight could easily have been one Georgetown’s best offensive nights. Everything seemed to click for them. As a team, the Hoyas shot the ball at a rate of 59 perecnt from the floor, 47 percent from 3-point range, and a rather dismal 66 percent from the foul line. Seems the charity strike was their only soft point in offense tonight.

They were led by the offensive trio of Marcus Derrickson, Trey Dickerson and Jessie Govan. Derrickson matched his career high of 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Dickerson put up 18 points. And Govan, although third in the pack in terms of scoring, quite possibly had the most impressive night of the three, as he posted a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Govan also was one of two Hoyas who ran into foul issue, finishing the game with four fouls. The other Hoya who had foul issues was Jonathan Mulmore, who also had four fouls on the night.

On the Butler side of things, although Kelan Martin looked contained at times, he still led the way with a 22-point effort. Albeit on 8-of-23 shooting, thankfully he made up for it on the foul line, going a perfect 5-of-5 in free throws. Joining in the scoring for the Bulldogs was Tyler Wideman and Kamar Baldwin who had 19 and 16 respectively. Baldwin played a big role in their late offensive surge to get back into the game.

As a team, Butler shot the ball at a rate of 47 percent from the field, 23 percent from long range, and 84 percent from the free throw line. They kind of lost the battle on the boards with 30 rebounds to Georgetown’s 32, but they turned over the ball less than the Hoyas with only nine to Georgetown’s 14.

Butler’s bench also saw a fair amount of action tonight, with 19 points coming off of it. This fact can also be used for Georgetown, who posted 22 points off of the pine. In the end, both teams mirrored each other outside of the shooting percentages.

Tonight’s win is a lovely feather in the cap for Patrick Ewing, whose first season at the helm can be seen as a slow but sure success. It is interesting to see where he goes from here, but that’s for another times.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate this one for the Hoyas.