Georgetown @ DePaul preview
Wintrust Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 22, 2020 ) Georgetown 68, DePaul 74
Georgetown looks to return to playing its best stretch of basketball this season when it faces DePaul in a Big East game on Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
The Hoyas (7-11, 5-8 Big East) had won four of the past six games before dropping a 70-57 decision to visiting UConn on Tuesday. Georgetown was outscored by 14 in the second half to end its two-game winning streak.
The Hoyas shot 35.8 percent (19 of 53) from the field and 21.1 percent (4 of 19) from 3-point range. They were just as bad defensively, as they were outrebounded 46-30. While Qudus Wahab recorded 18 points, Georgetown had no answer for Huskies' guards James Bouknight and R.J. Cole in the second half.
Bouknight scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and also finished the game with 10 rebounds. Cole scored 14 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes to cap a performance in which he added seven assists and six steals without committing a turnover.
"They did a very good job of getting up into us," Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing said. "But we just didn't execute. We were right there. We weren't scoring; they weren't scoring. Then we took our foot off the pedal, especially defensively. We made too many mistakes and let them kick our butts on the glass."
Georgetown is led by Jahvon Blair, who averages a team-best 15.8 points per game but has scored just 12 points in the past two contests combined. Jamorko Pickett averages 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds, and Wahab adds 12.1 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game.
Big East cellar-dwelling DePaul (4-11, 2-11) is also coming off a loss, albeit a much more decisive setback than the one the Hoyas endured.
No. 13 Creighton cruised to a 77-53 win over the Blue Demons on Wednesday. The Bluejays closed the first half on a 21-5 run to take a 34-23 lead at intermission before opening the second half by scoring 11 of the first 13 points.
DePaul shot 35.5 percent (22 of 62) from the field, while Creighton shot 35.5 percent (11 of 31) from the 3-point line and 49.1 percent overall (27 of 55). It was the Blue Demons' sixth loss in their past seven games.
"We didn't help our cause in turning the ball over and turn it over unforced, taking early and not so good shots, and not protecting both of the backboards, DePaul coach Dave Leitao said. "When you do that consecutively, not only do you pay a price on the scoreboard, it becomes a confidence builder for your opponent and it can be deflating for our guys."
The loss came on the heels of DePaul's best performance of the season, an 88-83 win over St. John's last Saturday. The Blue Demons shot a blistering 63.0 percent (34 of 54) from the field.
Charlie Moore, who averages a team-high 14.2 points per game, was held to nine points against the Bluejays after entering the game as Big East Player of the Week. He came off the bench to record 24 points and eight assists against St. John's.
--Field Level Media