Creighton shut down

When Georgetown came out on fire, leading 12-3, it looked like they would run Creighton out of its home court, Centurylink gym. Freshman guard L.J. Peak led the charge with five points during that five minute, 20 second stretch.

In the BIG EAST every team makes a run, and Creighton surely did it, outscoring G'Town 13 -zip and taking a 12-15 lead. A CU pack line/sagging man defense and not having foul laden, senior center Joshua Smith contributed to the Hoyas' woes.

Again, teams will make runs, with Georgetown following suit to the tune of a 7-0 scoring advantage over six minutes, helping craft the Hoyas' 28-17 intermission lead. A second half onslaught ensued, with Georgetown, now 15-6 and 7-3 in the BIG EAST cruising to a 67-40 win over the Bluejays (10-13, 1-9).

Before halftime Head Hoya John Thompson III told CBS Sports Network's Rashan Ali, "I think we need to do a better job defensively, to help sustain our momentum offensively. We have to keep getting stops" when asked how to better consistently score against Creighton.

Thompson's guys apparently listened, outscoring the 'Jays 16-3 over the second half's first seven minutes, seven seconds; that equates to over 17 minutes (first and second periods) of action without a CU field goal.

G'Town shot 48% in the first stanza, though only went 2/13 from three point land then. For the game, the Hoyas finished 50% overall and 43.5% on long balls, the last equating to an 8-10 second stanza mark from beyond the arc. Senior swingman Jabril Trawick contributed to Georgetown's game-wide long ball percentage by finishing 3-5 from there, 5-8 overall, good for 15 points.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera led all scorers with 24 points, accumulating nine made buckets to Creighton's 11 as a team. The 'Jay's were held to 20.8% scoring, including 18% at halftime. G'Town did cede some solid deep ball looks to Creighton, who couldn't capitalize, going 2/13 and 5/22, or 23.1% and 20.7% from three in the first and second periods, respectively.

"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive early" said Smith-Rivera to Ali, the reporter. "Last game (a Verizon Center loss to Xavier) I think we started out kind of slow we wanted to come out strong today. And I think defensively was a big day for us".

No Bluejay scored in double figures, with senior guard Avery Dingman getting closest with eight points. Senior guard Devin Brooks paced Creighton with seven caroms, a mark exceeded by two Hoyas, senior forward Mikael Hopkins and freshman forward Isaac Copeland, both of whom pulled down eight.

The Hoyas next welcome Providence, Wednesday night at 9P EST. The Friars defeated G'Town 60-57 in overtime earlier this month, a victory in part facilitated by a 55%, Blue and Grey free throw percentage.

Provy, a team that fell to St. John's today, has an equal number of conference losses (16-6 overall, 6-3 in the BIG EAST) as Georgetown and the obvious immediate head to head tie breaker. Versus them Smith-Rivera remarked his team must "just continue to be aggressive and defensively stay at it. They've got quite a few players that can get it done, so you know hopefully we can contain them and hopefully come out and win".

To defeat the Friars, Thompson et al will have to get more from senior Joshua Smith (two points, four rebounds, five fouls and a disqualification in 14 minutes). Queried regarding Smith's impact, Smith-Rivera replied "He's the biggest player in college basketball. So it's always a big deal when he's in there for us. He helps us out a lot, gives us great spacing on the floor and defensively he helps us out". Color commentator and former Villanova head coach Steve Lappas agreed, opining Smith is a key to G'Town's season. For his words, see Premium Court.

Creighton also plays Wednesday, when the line up against Xavier in Cincinnati, also a 9p EST tip-off.