Field Level Media
Jan 2, 2019
Greg Malinowski scored a season-high 26 points to power Georgetown past Butler 84-76 in the Big East Conference opener for both teams on Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
Malinowski sank 10 of 12 shots from the floor, including 6 of 7 3-point attempts, for the Hoyas (11-3, 1-0). The previous high for 6-foot-6 guard, a William & Mary transfer, was 11 points.
Jessie Govan contributed 17 points for the Hoyas. Josh LeBlanc and James Akinjo each added 12 points for the Hoyas, who shot 52.9 percent for the game.
Kamar Baldwin was high for Butler (9-5, 0-1) with 17 points. Henry Baddley scored 14 and Joey Brunk 11 for the Bulldogs, who shot 41.1 percent.
The Bulldogs committed a season-high 15 turnovers. The Hoyas also had 15 turnovers.
The Hoyas were 18 of 32 from the foul line while the Bulldogs were 7 of 11 on free throws.
The Hoyas opened the second half with six unanswered points to push a two-point halftime lead to 46-38.
Georgetown expanded the lead to 51-41 on a 3-pointer by Malinowski.
The Bulldogs closed the deficit to 57-53 before Malinowski drilled another 3-pointer to start an 8-0 run.
Georgetown's largest lead was 16 points at 78-62 with 2:46 remaining. Butler used a 9-0 spurt to trim the deficit to 79-73. Butler missed two shots to trim the gap even more. Govan sank two free throws with 39 seconds left to make it to 81-73.
Georgetown sank 59.3 percent of its first-half field-goal attempts, including 7 of 12 3-point tries, to take a 40-38 lead at halftime.
The Bulldogs shot 48.4 percent in the first half. Baddley was 4 of 5 from the field in the first half.
Malinowski scored 12 points in the first half to lead the Hoyas.
Trailing 7-2, Georgetown went on a 13-0 run to take an eight-point lead. Akinjo delivered two 3-pointers and Malinowski one 3-pointer in the spurt.
The Hoyas went on to take a 22-12 lead before the Bulldogs use 15-2 run to go on top 27-24. Baddley capped the run with 3-pointer.
--Field Level Media