In front of a packed house at Capitol One Arena Saturday afternoon, the Georgetown Hoyas failed to secure a key-conference victory, falling to the Butler Bulldogs by a score of 73-69. Georgetown played from behind much of the contest, failing to take a lead at any point past the 11-minute mark of the first half. The Hoyas had many chances to tie the game, or even take a lead, pulling as close as two points in the final minutes, but multiple empty possessions erased all hope.
Saturday afternoon’s game featured a much cleaner first half than the Hoyas’ last-outing at Providence on Wednesday. Turnovers, which have plagued Ewing’s young squad much of the season, did not seem to be a problem, with the Hoyas committing none in the first 14 minutes and only four of them in the first period. This was a primary reason the Hoyas remained competitive despite Butler shooting an impressive 48.3% from the floor and 40% from behind the arc before halftime.
Both teams came out firing early, with Butler knocking down several threes to put them ahead. Luckily for the Hoyas, Jamorko Pickett responded with a three of his own and a trio of strong finishes around the rim, including a put-back slam, to help Georgetown keep pace. An assault of pull-up jumpers from Butler senior Paul Jorgensen off the bench gave the Bulldogs an 8-point advantage, their largest of the half.
With little going right for the Hoyas, freshman guard Mac McClung, sporting a headband to go with his new buzz-cut, seemingly willed the team back in the game, hitting mid-range jumpers on consecutive possessions. McClung appeared to hit a momentum-shifting three at the end of the shot clock with 5:06 to play in the half, but after utilizing replay technology, the refs ruled it had come after the buzzer. Mac did not appear to be phased, responding with a four-point play on the subsequent possession that brought the grey-clad crowd to their feet.
He paced the Hoyas with 14 first-half points and would finish the game with 21 in total to lead all scorers.
Butler closed the half with a strong finish led by Jordan Tucker, who knocked down a three and converted a conventional three-point play to curb the Hoyas’ momentum. A deep McClung three-point try bounced harmlessly off the rim at the buzzer and Butler took a 41-35 lead into the half.
The start of the second half featured much of the same, with three-point shots from Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott stretching the Bulldog’s lead to 10. After a Pickett three, a Butler turnover led to a McClung fast break, where a hard foul by Aaron Thompson left Mac limping was deemed a flagrant by the officials. Fans in Capitol One Arena rose to the defense of their young star, chanting “Kick him out!” in reference to Thompson.
Mac McClung did all he could to keep the Hoyas within striking distance. On one occasion, McClung was able to beat his man and draw help from the Butler big, but a fabulous feed to Kaleb Johnson proved useless when Johnson failed to convert the layup. Perhaps this was an adequate representation of most of the game for Georgetown, with McClung and Pickett receiving little help from their teammates outside of a few instances. With McClung exiting the game to take a breather at the 11:41 mark, Butler seemed ready to take advantage with a quick 6-point scoring run. But the Hoyas refused to fade; with all three freshmen and Govan on the bench, senior leaders Kaleb Johnson and Trey Mourning stepped up to shoulder much of the load for Georgetown.
Despite all their faults, this Georgetown Hoyas team had once again played themselves into a tight game in the final minutes. The Georgetown defense, which had been carved apart for much of the game, dug in and secured in number of key stops, forcing Butler into late shot clock situations. Ewing’s team held the opposition to just 9 points in the final 10 minutes of game time, an impressive feat. Defense can only go so far though, and the lack of reliability on the offensive end doomed Georgetown’s chances of a come from behind victory.
A difficult finish off the glass from Baldwin put Butler up 5 with 2:27 to play in regulation. Georgetown was able to draw back within 2, and a missed front end of the one-and-one gave the Hoyas a golden opportunity. Jessie Govan, the senior leader of this Georgetown team, took matters into his own hands, but he failed to knock down a mid-range jumper, continuing his struggles from the field on the day. A Butler turnover gave Georgetown new life, but once again the Hoyas were unable to convert as McClung’s contested lay-up failed to fall. Forced to foul, the blue and gray sent Baldwin to the line, where the Bulldog’s leading scorer calmly knocked down both. On the ensuing possession, James Akinjo was able to draw a foul and convert both free throws, his only points of the game. Baldwin went to the line once again for Butler and lived up to his reputation as a clutch player, hitting both free throws and all-but clinching the game with a 4-point lead and 13 seconds to play. Georgetown’s hopes at a miracle failed to materialize with a missed three pointer from Akinjo and the Hoyas suffered a home defeat that will certainly linger in the minds of Hoya fans.
With the loss, Georgetown now falls to 5-6 in Big East play, yet somehow still maintain their position in tied for 3rd in the conference. Unfortunately, another home loss against a middle of the pack team such as Butler is a stain on the NCAA tournament resume of this team. Barring some kind of miraculous finish, which would likely need to include upsets over ranked opponents Villanova and Marquette, or a Big East Tournament victory, it is likely the Hoyas will be watching from the sidelines come the end of March. This team had given the Georgetown faithful reason to believe, but Saturday’s loss is just another reminder that this team may not yet be ready for the big show.
