Tag: Georgetown

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Butler looks to turn things around with a visit to Georgetown in Washington

Butler (NCAAB)

Since joining the Big East, Butler has had strong performances in Washington, D.C., and will hope to continue this trend on Friday when they play Georgetown in a game both teams need to win.

Butler (9-12, 2-8) has matched its worst 10-game start in the Big East since the 2013-14 season. Even after pushing No. 19 UConn to overtime in a close 80-78 loss on Jan. 21, the Bulldogs are still winless on the road.

If there’s a chance for head coach Thad Matta to get his team back on track away from home, it’s in Georgetown.

Since returning to Butler, Matta has led the team to two solid wins in Washington. Last season, Butler won 90-66 after a dominant 80-51 victory in 2023.

Butler has a strong record of 8-3 at Georgetown and has won eight straight games at Georgetown’s main court, Capital One Arena, downtown. However, they did lose their only game at Georgetown’s on-campus arena in 2021.

On Tuesday, Butler lost to No. 9 Marquette 78-69 after letting a halftime lead slip. Jahmyl Telfort scored 24 points, but the Bulldogs’ shooting dropped from 57.1 percent in the first half to just 25.8 percent after the break.

“There comes a point where you’re struggling to score and especially when you’re playing a team like Marquette, it starts to weigh on your defense,” Matta said. “It starts to wear you down defensively. As a coach you don’t want that to happen.”

Georgetown knows well what it’s like to struggle offensively.

Providence and Georgetown (NCAAB)

The Hoyas (13-8, 4-6) have lost six of their last seven games and scored their fewest points in a game since 2012-13 in Tuesday’s 66-41 loss to No. 15 St. John’s.

Coach Ed Cooley is searching for ways to improve his team’s offensive performance.

“It could be a lot of different things,” Cooley said after Georgetown was held to under 70 points for the ninth time in 10 conference games. “… 41 points in a high-major game. We scored 60-something points in our last game. I don’t know if we got to 70 since December in a Big East game. We need to look at our offense, our shot selection.”

Malik Mack was the only Hoya to reach double figures with 13 points but had six of Georgetown’s 16 turnovers. The Hoyas recorded a season-low six assists and shot just 24.6 percent from the field. Georgetown has shot under 50 percent in eight straight games, going 2-6 in that stretch.

Georgetown’s leading scorer, Thomas Sorber (14.5 ppg), earned his fifth Big East Freshman of the Week award on Monday. Butler is led by Telfort (16.2 ppg) and Pierre Brooks II (14.9).

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No. 15 St. John’s Looking To Continue Its Winning Streak As It Takes On Georgetown In Washington D.C. On Tuesday

Coach Rick Pitino (NCAAB)

Coach Rick Pitino and No. 15 St. John’s will finish their season series against struggling Georgetown on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., with the two teams heading in different directions.

The Red Storm (17-3, 8-1 Big East) have won six straight games and are tied with No. 9 Marquette for the top spot in the conference, thanks to strong defense and key performances from Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis.

Their recent success helped them climb five spots in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Pitino, a Hall of Fame coach, has St. John’s off to its best start in 39 years, and he’s on track to take his sixth different school to the NCAA Tournament after missing out in his first season with the Red Storm.

St. John’s is ranked No. 15 for the first time in a decade, dating back to when Steve Lavin’s team reached that spot during the 2014-15 season.

However, it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing for St. John’s lately.

In two of their last three games, the Red Storm had to rally from double-digit deficits to keep their win streak alive.

In the first matchup with Georgetown on Jan. 14, St. John’s trailed 35-20 late in the first half but came back to win 63-58, holding Georgetown to just 21 points in the second half on 32 percent shooting.

In their most recent game against Xavier on Wednesday, the Red Storm were down 50-34 with 17:02 remaining but forced overtime and won 79-71 behind Richmond’s 19 points and Luis’ 16, despite shooting just 1 of 12 from three-point range.

“A lot of teams, when they get down 16, get down 14, really hang their heads,” Pitino said after the game. “It’s just the opposite with these guys, and that goes back to their fear of losing, and they just dig in and dig in and played magnificent when the game was on the line.”

Providence and Georgetown (NCAAB)

After starting 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2012, Georgetown (13-7, 4-5) has lost five of its last six games and fallen to the middle of the Big East standings.

Despite an improved defense in Ed Cooley’s second season, offense has been a struggle for Georgetown recently.

The Hoyas have been held under 70 points in seven straight games, going 2-5. They’ve scored more than 70 points just once in Big East play — a 81-57 win over Creighton on Dec. 18.

Some of the struggles can be attributed to injuries to Thomas Sorber, who leads the team with 14.8 points per game, and Jayden Epps, who averages 12.9 points. Both players returned to the starting lineup in a 78-68 loss to Providence on Saturday. Sorber finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds, while Epps had six points.

For the first time this season, Cooley said he thought his team’s defense let them down. Georgetown was outrebounded 21-18 on the defensive glass and 37-32 overall.

“This was the first game we played all year where I thought our defense let us down,” Cooley said. “I don’t think we were gritty, and I thought that Providence was tougher.”

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Marquette Women’s Basketball Wins Against Georgetown in Milwaukee

Lee Volker stuck 20 on the Hoyas on Saturday

I arrived at the McGuire Center just a bit too late to catch the start of Marquette women’s basketball’s game against Georgetown on Saturday.

Due to some circumstances beyond my control, I got settled in my seat during the first-quarter media timeout.

At that point, Marquette was leading 14-6. It turned out Georgetown had just ended a 12-0 Marquette run right before the timeout. After the break, Marquette went on to score the next eight points.

That was a 20-2 run. With the score at 22-6, Marquette just had to maintain their lead for the rest of the game.

They did give up the last five points of the first quarter, but then they won the second quarter by three points and outscored Georgetown by 11 in the third. That’s better than just holding steady.

Even though Georgetown started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run, it didn’t really change much in the grand scheme of things.

The lead was still 16 points at 68-52. Marquette then outscored the Hoyas 7-6 for the final six minutes, and that was it.

The surprising part? Marquette wasn’t even playing at its best offensively. They finished the game shooting 55% from the field and a remarkable 67% from three-point range.

Marquette Women’s Basketball wins against Georgetown in Milwaukee

When they did get a shot up, it was likely to go in. But because Marquette committed 21 turnovers—just like Georgetown—they didn’t quite hit their usual average of one point per possession.

Despite this, they still won by 17 points thanks to their strong defense. In fact, you could argue that Marquette really stepped up on defense, as Kelsey Ransom scored 25 points on 21 shots, and Ariel Jenkins had 16 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.

Lee Volker led Marquette with 20 points, while Halle Vice added 19 and Skylar Forbes contributed 18.

Vice led the team in rebounds with eight, Volker had the most assists with six, and Forbes tied with Vice for the team-high in steals with three. Forbes also added four blocks for a well-rounded performance.