Your Georgetown Hoyas (7-21, 2-15 BIG EAST) traveled to play the Butler Bulldogs (13-15, 5-12) this weekend and came away with a rare road WIN, prevailing 68-62 over a team that upset the #13 squad in the country only 9 days ago. (By the transitive property, the Hoyas should really be ranked next week.) Qudus Wahab returned to the team with 14 points and 8 rebounds in tow, while Brandon Murray added 17 points & 6 rebounds. Jay Heath added 12 points and Bryson Mozone snared 8 rebounds. For all the jokes about learning to win the type of game you play, Georgetown showed today that with a little bit of free throw competence and rebounding attentiveness, there is a path to victory through unattractive chaos.
There was conservation of available Hoyas today, with Wahab returning to the lineup after missing a game for personal reasons, while Jordan Riley was out due to an illness. Butler was going to be without Manny Bates in their frontcourt, creating a small opening for the visitors. Both teams had taken Ls on Valentine’s Day, with Georgetown having an uninspiring soiree in Newark against Seton Hall and the Bulldogs on the wrong side of a tussle with the Wildcats. Butler is 9th in the conference and came into this one 5-11 in BIG EAST play, which is a record at which no self-aware Hoyas fan can currently throw shade.
Akok Akok opened the scoring for Georgetown with a smooth three-pointer, but that was the only basket for his team prior to the first media break, set against three jumpers and a pair of foul shots for Butler. A couple empty possessions later, Jayden Taylor’s triple put the Bulldogs on top 11-3. Wayne Bristol Jr. broke the drought with a contested basket from long range before Butler answered back on the next possession. Jay Heath’s off-balance, one-legged fadeaway suggested that he does in fact practice that shot, keeping Georgetown within single digits.
Murray’s second chance bucket shrunk the deficit to seven, and Butler’s attempt at a highlight reel transition dunk out of that sequence backfired (…a familiar outcome with which one can sympathize…). Bristol emerged from that chaos with the ball and threw down a dunk the other end, capping off an 8-0 Hoyas run. Wahab’s pair of free throws pulled Georgetown within three, then Murray briefly cut the lead to one off the fast break. With 9:25 remaining in the opening period, the Hoyas trailed 19-18.
Both pace and execution had picked up (relative to the clunky, chaotic…
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