Georgetown Coughs Up Another Halftime Lead, Falls to Butler, 63-55
The Hoyas went on another late-game scoring drought, this time lasting nearly five minutes, and fell to 3-7 on the season as a result.
It’s difficult to write about a basketball game after the coup attempt, incited by President Trump, that occurred at the United State Capitol on Wednesday.
With that being said, and after observing a night of relative silence on Twitter, here is what happened on Wednesday night, when Georgetown faced Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse
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There was hope and optimism that Georgetown would be able to snap its three-game losing streak on Wednesday night, facing the Big East team that was last in the conference in NET ranking, in Butler, which was ranked #170 in the NET, lower than Georgetown’s #149 ranking.
And in what is becoming another alarming trend for this Georgetown team in 2020-21, along with bad defense and a high turnover rate, Georgetown gave up another halftime lead, falling to Butler by a 63-55 final score, after leading the Bulldogs 34-27 at halftime.
The Bulldogs quickly cut into Georgetown’s lead to start the second half, going on a quick 5-0 run that led to Patrick Ewing having to call timeout just 44 seconds into the half, after Butler freshman Chuck Harris (18 points, three rebounds, 5 assists) knocked down a three-pointer.
Georgetown was able to regain control after the timeout, and brought their lead back up to nine points with 14:14 remaining in the game, after a Chudier Bile three-pointer.
But the Bulldogs kept chipping away at the lead, and as usual, Georgetown’s carelessness with the ball wound up costing it the game, as the team committed nine of its 15 turnovers in the second half.
For comparison, Butler committed only two second half turnovers, and a total of six for the entire game. Must be nice, huh?
Butler tied the game on a Jair Bolden three with 5:49 remaining, and then took the lead for good when senior center Bryce Golden hit a desperation jumper with the shot clock winding down to put Butler up 57-55 with 1:49 left.
Butler would finish the game on a 10-0 run over the final 3:31 to emerge with the home victory, while Georgetown went on a scoring drought that lasted 4:29. The Hoyas were 1 for their last 14 field goal attempts.
For Georgetown, Jamorko Pickett led the way with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, while Jahvon Blair had 11 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. However, the two seniors struggled from the field, shooting a combined 8-29 (27.6%).
As long as those two struggle offensively, this team will continue to struggle to find any wins on its schedule.
Patrick Ewing continues to limit the opportunities given to freshmen not named Dante Harris on this team so far this season. While Harris played 38 minutes, finishing with eight points, one rebound, two assists, and three turnovers, the other three freshman on the team played a combined nine minutes in the game.
For a rebuilding team that needs to develop its young talent for 2021 and beyond, that is simply unacceptable, no matter how ugly the results may be. Certainly, the results up to this point have been ugly enough, and that’s with playing the older guys on the team. Ewing has very little to lose by giving more minutes to Jamari Sibley, T.J. Berger, and Kobe Clark, and a lot to potentially gain.
Now, the team has Thursday and Friday to prepare before they head to upstate New York to take on the Syracuse Orange on Saturday at 8:00 PM. Syracuse, with a record of 6-2, lost to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, 63-60. Like Georgetown, the Orange also blew a halftime lead, except theirs was a 14-point lead.
What does this mean? The Hoyas can expect to face a pissed off Syracuse team on Saturday.
After losing to one of the worst Big East teams in Butler on Wednesday night, wins could be hard to come by for the remainder of the schedule for Georgetown. Getting a win against their archrival on Saturday, however, would go a long way in placating the fan base amidst an otherwise difficult campaign in 2020-21.