HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. He was in attendance Wednesday night at Capital 1 Arena and prepared this photo essay about the Hoyas’ matchup against Creighton. If you would like to check out his prior coverage, please go to:
Part 1: https://hoopshd.com/2024/11/09/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1-4
Part 2: https://hoopshd.com/2024/11/16/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2-5
Part 3: https://hoopshd.com/2024/11/23/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-3-4
Part 4: https://hoopshd.com/2024/11/30/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-4-4
Part 5: https://hoopshd.com/2024/12/03/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-5-5
My 1st Big East game of the season = hot pregame meal: Chick-fil-A nuggets/mac and cheese/brownie/chocolate chip cookie. How do you know it is the holidays (besides the student section being mostly empty)? I received a seat upgrade that put me about 20 rows behind the Georgetown bench, so now you get more photo/less essay! I do not know the last time that Creighton 7’1″ C Ryan Kalkbrenner was ever NOT the tallest guy in the room…but he is in 2nd place tonight thanks to 7’2″ CBS Sports Network color commentator/former Georgetown C Roy Hibbert sitting courtside:
Let’s tip it off:
The good news for Greg McDermott is that he became the winningest coach in Creighton history last month…but the bad news is that any game he wins the rest of this season will be without 1 of his leading scorers in Pop Isaacs, who is done for the year due to hip surgery:
3-time-defending conference DPOY Kalkbrenner showed another side of his game tonight with a pair of open threes from the top of the key in the 1st half:
Steven Ashworth matched his taller teammate with 2 long-range shots of his own, but also made a pull-up jumper and a finger roll to help pick up the offensive slack in Pop’s absence:
The other surprising star was FR F Jackson McAndrew. My nephew saw him play in person last year when McAndrew was named Minnesota High School POY, and he did not disappoint with a pair of threes, a tip-in, and a nice scoop shot to exceed his season average of 8.2 PPG during the 1st 20 minutes:
This is usually the part of the show where Georgetown falls apart, as Coach Ed Cooley only won 2 Big East games last year (by a combined 4 PTS):
Even worse, his starting PG (Malik Mack) was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury. However, that allowed 6’7” FR Caleb Williams to make his 1st-ever college start, and he exceeded expectations with a team-high 5 REB in the 1st half:
I did not have any expectations regarding Louisville transfer Curtis Williams Jr., who scored exactly 8 PTS during his 1st 10 games at Georgetown…but after seeing him come off the bench to make a fadeaway jumper and a couple of threes I concluded that he might be the best “C. Williams” on the roster!
I expected that FR big man Thomas Sorber would get schooled by the bigger/older Kalkbrenner…but he more than held his own with a pair of layups and a dunk to help his team build a 34-28 halftime lead:
Ashworth kept knocking down threes in the 2nd half but it would not be enough. Hoyas G Jayden Epps was coming off of a 27-PT performance last Saturday in a win at Syracuse and kept it going with several more trifectas as he finished with a team-high 21 PTS/5-6 3PM:
However, the star of the night was his teammate Micah Peavy, who helped put the game out of reach with a couple of steals-leading-to-dunks to cap a 17-3 run that extended the lead to 56-38. He dominated every aspect of the game from start to finish, ending up with a startling stat line that has only been matched by a handful of players in D-1 history (20 PTS/8 REB/8 AST/7 STL/1 BLK):
Georgetown cruised to an 81-57 victory for their 1st win over a top-75 KenPom conference opponent since…beating Creighton by 25 PTS during Kalkbrenner’s freshman year in the 2021 Big East tourney title game at Madison Square Garden. In the postgame press conference I asked Coach McDermott whether playing without Pop is as simple as “next man up” or if he is still tinkering with his offense/defense. He admitted that they are still searching for a solution because they do not have the luxury of multiple ballhandlers (such as Georgetown having both Epps/Peavy to fall bock on after Mack got hurt). It puts a lot of pressure on Ashworth to be the PG so he needs his wings to step up:
I wondered if Epps felt like every 3-PT shot that he takes is going in after making an scorching 9-12 during his past 2 games. As you can see below his face told most of the answer(!), but he said that he feels that way all the time no matter his shooting percentage because he knows how much time he has put into improving his long-range shooting (he was at 30 3P% during his 1st 2 seasons):
Coach Cooley made a point of complimenting Epps’ preparation during the past 2 weeks, which is why he wants him to play more off the ball:
That is a wrap for now but check back later this month as we wrap up 2024 when Coppin State visits DC on 12/28.