MEN’S BASKETBALL: Creighton’s Defense Shuts Down Georgetown

WASHINGTON, DC–(CU Athletics Feb. 9)–No. 19 Creighton set a school-record with 19 steals and never trailed in a 63-48 win at Georgetown on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. The 48 points were the least allowed by Creighton to a Power 5 or BIG EAST team since Nebraska scored 42 in 2012 back when the Bluejays belonged to the Missouri Valley Conference.

The victory also helped Creighton (15-5, 11-4 BIG EAST) improve to 7-1 in league road games for the first time in program history and avenged an 86-79 loss in Omaha to the Hoyas just six days earlier.

Creighton scored on nine of its first 12 possessions and scored 20 points before the first media timeout at the 12:34 mark. Damien Jefferson had a pair of buckets, then fed Christian Bishop for a dunk to give CU an early 6-0 lead, and the Bluejays would maintain that lead throughout the contest.

The Bluejays endured a five-minute drought without a bucket before Mitch Ballock’s 30-footer and Bishop’s lay-up moved the lead to double-figures (29-19) for the first time. The Bluejays led 33-21 at the break behind 10 points from Bishop. CU owned the paint to a 20-4 advantage and had 11 steals while forcing GU into 13 turnovers. The Bluejays had a 9-0 lead in points off turnovers by intermission.

The Bluejays embarked on a 14-2 run spanning halftime to stretch its lead to 37-21, and the margin grew as big 24 (58-34) in the second half.

Bishop led Creighton with 17 points, just ahead of Ballock (14) and Jefferson (12). Bishop also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Creighton forced GU into 24 turnovers and converted those into 19 points. The Jays also won the paint battle 38-12, just six days after losing 32-30 in that same category.

Georgetown’s 48 points were the fewest allowed by the Jays all season. Jamorko Pickett led the Hoyas with 16 points. GU shot 16-of-58 from the field (27.6 percent).

Creighton returns home on Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts No. 5 Villanova in a 4 p.m. game that will be televised nationally by FOX.