Old and new come through

January 18, 2015 - The scene was set, Georgetown down a point to Butler with just 12 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs called timeout, giving Hoya head coach John Thompson III an opportunity to talk to his squad. The game was obviously in the balance.

G'Town inbounded the ball, with senior swingman Jabril Trawick setting the play in motion. He drove, noticed freshman forward Isaac Copeland had an opening in the left corner, found him with the ball, after which Copeland rose up and sank a three pointer with 5.2 seconds to go.

Bedlam ensued at Verizon Center, the Hoyas (12-5, 4-2 BIG EAST) then defended a Roosevelt Jones runner and celebrated a 61-59 conference win in front of 14,281 attendees.

"To tell you the truth, we left the decision up to Jabril" revealed Thompson of his final play's design, it was Trawick that decided to trust Copeland. "I thought he made a terrific play, terrific decision".

Trawick noted of the sequence "Isaac was wide open. Coach always says one of our mottos is 'Trust each other'. So I snapped it to him and he made a big play".

Copeland, when asked to discuss his last second heroics simply said "Honestly Coach said it all. We gave Jabril the ball, told him to make a play, so everybody spotted up in their corner, and I made a shot".

The freshman's heroics received deserved attention, including from Butler head coach Chris Holtmann, but the nuts and bolts work of Trawick (10 points, three rebounds, six assists) were key to winning; the Philadelphia native not only found Copeland in the corner, but provided much needed energy to close the first half; during a crucial 10-2, period closing run, Trawick logged a free throw and rebound, but it was his effort that sparked Georgetown.

Bringing that ethos early in the second half, Trawick repeatedly drove into the paint, accounting for two free throws, a layup and assist before the period's first TV timeout. His work was not unnoticed.

"I think they made a concerted effort to drive the ball coming out of halftime. They were really decking it on us and putting their head down and trying to drive it on us" answered Holtmann, when asked about Trawick's early stanza driving.

Getting the ball to the cup helped Georgetown to 48.1% second half shooting, much better than the first period's 30.8% mark. The Hoyas finished at 39.6% from the field, 36.4% on three balls.

Butler shot 44% for the game, yet went 2-7 (28.6%) beyond the arc. Junior swingman Jones provided the Bulldogs an outstanding, spirited performance. Along the way to scoring a game high 28 points and pulling down three rebounds, he battled, clawed and energized his team.

It was Jones who gave Butler (13-6, 3-3) their at-game's-end, 59-58 lead, driving right despite the Hoyas attempting to deny it, scoring a layup in the process. It was also Jones who would advance the ball full court with no help to close the game.

It would be Trawick who stripped him at half court, the clock reading 50.4 seconds, G'Town down 58-57 and accounting for his lone steal of the contest.

Thompson on his team's emotional leader: "I thought Jabril, that was one of his better games, at both ends of the court...He's guarding big guys, he's guarding little guys, and he can, that's what he does. And we feed off him... You guys have heard me say this many times, we feed off his energy".

Senior forward Mikael Hopkins led the game with eight caroms - the Hoyas outrebounded Butler, the BIG EAST's leading such team, 35-33 - while also scoring eight points. A reportedly sick senior center, Joshua Smith contributed 10 points, seven in the first half. D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera paced the Blue and Grey with 14 points and three steals, the 6'3" perimeter player even adding a block, rejecting Jones' last second layup attempt, sealing the Bulldog's fate.

All hands will be needed Monday, when BIG EAST leading and number fifth ranked Villanova comes to Verizon Center for a 9p EST tip-off. For tickets, click here.

The Bulldogs of Butler host Creighton, Wednesday. It's a 9p EST start.