Following is a look at aspects of Georgetown's disappointing 90-66 loss to visiting Butler, last night.

Click here for pressers, here for G'Town's official report. The chat thread is popping;

When HC Ed Cooley addressed media after his team' got body slammed 90-66 by Butler in DC, the newly minted head coach at Georgetown opined "Clearly we weren't prepared today. i thought we took 97 steps backwards". This after a three week period filled with losing "three in a row", including "a couple of tough ones on the road, played in some hostile situations", Cooley strongly believed "we had three really good weeks of preparation, with energy, toughness".

Yet against visiting Butler, then a mere slot ahead of Georgetown in the BIG EAST standings (nine to 10), the Hoyas started slow, fell behind, never recovering.

The stats this time conspire with score in telling an accurate story:

FG% - Butler 57% to G'Town's 35%

3PT FG% - 38% to 26%

Pts off TO - 16p to 7p

Rebs - 41 to 32

Bench Pts - 15 to 11

Paint Points - 42 to 26

Fastbreak Points - nine to two

Assists - 12 to nine.

The demerits keep coming. Butler enjoyed the lead for 31, 11 seconds, compared to Georgetown's slightly less than four and a half minutes (4.26), while G'Town ceded a 17 point, first half Butler run, entered intermission down 44-32, never got closer than 12 points in second half play. For those counting, the Hoyas' biggest back stanza deficit was 29 points, a low reached with 3:05 in regulation.

Cooley remained blunt throughout the interview, admitting "I think this is the worst we've played all year", labeling his team's performance after returning home after a pair of tough road contests "piss poor".

Improving is solely on the staff and players, as "it's not like we can have some midseason trades" shared Cooley. He believes "Our players came here for an opportunity to play. And we're going to hold them accountable too. We have to get better. Clearly our defense is absolutely atrocious right now, and that's on me. I gotta fix it".

Cooley, who rightly lenses his team's build as "a process", later continued to readily hold himself accountable, expressing "We should be better. i thought we turned the corner, but unfortunately went back".

Pacing Georgetown's Hoyas in scoring was sophomore guard Jayden Epps, he of a 16 point, three assist, five turnover work. Supreme Cook, a junior center, put up a double-double, following with 12 points and besting all players on the boards, also via 12 caroms. Dropping 11 points, nine boards was junior forward Dontrez Styles.

Georgetown, now 8-11, 1-7 and remaining 10th in the BIG EAST, next heads to new blood rival, Providence, Cooley's former school where he established the program over a dozen years. Things jump off Saturday, 1.27.24, 1230p EST.

Standing 13-7, 4-5 and now eighth in the league is Butler, coached by school alum Thad Matta, in his second season leading the Bulldogs. BU welcomes Villanova on Saturday, a 3p EST tip.

Versus Georgetown, junior forward Pierre Brooks led the Bulldogs via 20 points, 11 rebounds. A pair of seniors, guard DJ Davis and forward Jahmyl Telfort, both logged 17 points. Joining this trio in double figure scoring land were Jalen Thomas (11p) and Posh Alexander (10p), a senior forward and point guard, respectively.

Having scouted Butler to the tune of six games, casually viewing a hand full of others, Butler, like any team, has produces a footprint, more or less what they will do on the court, broadly. That six pack of games reviewed are here and here.

What was obvious from the beginning of 2023-24 is Matta et al desire a paint game. Multiple guys can post, with several assistant coaches specializing in that work, specifically top assistant Mike Pegues and former Matta player at Ohio State and NBA first round pick, Greg Oden.

Last night, it felt like BU was determined to get paint shots. Did Cooley agree?

"It looks like that yeah" admitted the coach. "They definitely did. Definitely looked like they had a heavy concentration of trying to play in front of the rim".

Those 42 points in the paint speak to it.

More Cooley on the loss

"All the fingers should be pointed at me...Clearly I didn't prepare our group for how hungry Butler was to come into our building and play. They beat us at every facet of the game. Especially the physical part, and that's the most disappointing thing to me...I can deal with a loss here or there. But when somebody physically comes in and overwhelms you, that's something we have to address.

Was Jayden Epps, who finished shooting 4-19 from the field, 2-13 beyond the arc, out of control per Cooley?

"i didn't think Jayden tried to do too much. I thought he had some good shots; he had three shots in one possession, and all of them were open shots".

Cooley on when you can pinpoint a team has arrived?

You know you start building an incredible team, when the balls not going in, and your'e getting down to the last two or three minutes of the game, and you still have a chance to win.

Cooley's definition of on court culture

Great teams hang their hat on toughness, defense, continuity and team work. That's called a culture. And we're not there yet.

Did Wayne Bristol (5p, 2r) provide some hustle and energy?

i can't point to one positive thing Georgetown did today. Other than we put on an incredibly nice looking uniform, and we had a great bus ride over, had an incredible pregame meal and everybody's still on scholarship. That's about the only goddamn thing we did well today.

Matta discussing dealing with Epps physically and meeting him inside with size

He's a special talent now. I mean some of the games he's had.

But that was a big thing tonight...we can't let him get going. And Ed does a tremendous job giving his players shots and putting them in position to score.

And fortunately for us like you said we were able to stay in front of him or be on his side and challenge the shot.