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Game 24 - Georgetown (8-15) @ #17 Creighton (17-7)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: February 13, 2024
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Venue: CHI Health Center - Omaha, NE
How to Watch: FS1
Matchup History: Creighton leads all-time series 15-9
Last Meeting: Creighton def. Georgetown 77-69 on 1/2/24
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Georgetown +18
Over/Under: 150.5
Prediction: Georgetown 61, Creighton 87
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Head Coach: Ed Cooley (1st season, 8-15 record at Georgetown)
Record: 8-15 (1-11, 10th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Lost vs. #1 UConn 89-64 on 2/10/24
Player to Watch: Dontrez Styles
With just eight games remaining, the Georgetown Hoyas are second-to-last in the Big East Conference and have just one victory in conference play this season.
In fact, since Georgetown won the Big East Tournament in March 2021, the Hoyas are 3-50 in Big East games, including games in the conference tournament.
Despite hiring a new coach with a prominent background in Ed Cooley from Providence, the Hoyas have faced similar issues this season that they faced under the direction of former Head Coach Patrick Ewing.
Georgetown has lost its last three home games by at least 24 points, losing by 24 to Butler, 34 to Marquette, and 25 to UConn this past Saturday.
They struggle to score and struggle to defend, finding it difficult to compete in many of their Big East games.
Now, the Hoyas head to Omaha to take on Creighton at CHI Health Center, an arena where Georgetown lost by 40 last year.
With just these eight games remaining, Coach Cooley is desperate to get some momentum in the program heading into next season, when Georgetown has the top recruiting class in the Big East coming in.
“Everyone in the organization really has to take a deep dive into what our purpose is,” Cooley said following the 25 point loss to #1 UConn on Saturday. “When you don’t give to the game, it’s never going to pay you back…I want to make sure that our guys continue to fight, continue to battle, and it’s my job to make sure that we get our guys organized.”
Over those last 53 Big East games in which Georgetown has just won three times, two have been against DePaul and one was against Butler on the road. What the Hoyas need is a momentum-shifting win.
No more moral victories, just win a game.
Head Coach: Greg McDermott (14th season, 317-157 record at Creighton)
Record: 17-7 (8-5, 3rd in Big East)
Last Time Out: Won @ Xavier 78-71 on 2/10/24
Player to Watch: Baylor Scheierman
More than past years, this year's Big East Conference is separated by tiers.
At the top, there is UConn and Marquette, who tower above the rest of the league. Since the two have yet to play each other, they are currently lumped together, although I’d argue UConn is in a tier of their own.
Then you have Creighton, Seton Hall, Butler, Xavier, Providence, St. John’s, and Villanova, all teams that can beat anyone else on any given night.
At the bottom sits Georgetown and DePaul, well below the other nine teams in the conference.
Just as Ed Cooley and Georgetown want to narrow the gap from the bottom of the league to the middle of the pack, Head Coach Greg McDermott and Creighton want to narrow the gap from the middle of the pack to the top of the league.
Creighton is 0-2 against Marquette and UConn this year, losing both games on the road by a combined 19 points. The Jays still host the two top 10 teams over the final month of the regular season, so we should get a much better idea of how Creighton stacks up with the Big East’s elite very soon.
At present, Creighton has seven games to play and currently sits 3rd in the Big East at 8-5 and 17-7 overall.
The Jays had lost two straight to Butler and Providence entering Saturday’s game @ Xavier, and got a crucial road victory, 78-71.
In the win, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman were masterful. The big man, Kalkbrenner, finished with 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks while Scheierman put together a double double, scoring 16 points while hauling in 12 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists.
Like last year, McDermott and the Jays have struggled in getting consistent production from the bench. Creighton won against Xavier despite just 3 bench points in the game, and only three players outside the starting lineup touching the floor, including two that played under 5 minutes in the game while starters Steven Ashworth and Trey Alexander never subbed out.
For Creighton, it’s been an underwhelming campaign thus far. There were sky high expectations in Omaha for this team coming into the season, and 17-7 through 24 games does not meet those expectations.
However, CU’s biggest home games are still in front of them. A win over Marquette, UConn, or both could be the confidence boost this team needs before going to New York for the Big East Tournament.
Before the season, coming off an Elite 8 appearance last year, the goal was to take the next step and get to the Final Four.
Although unlikely, it still feels very possible for this Creighton team, if they can find just a bit more consistency in the next month.