The players for both Creighton and Georgetown shouldn’t have a tough time memorizing the scouting report for their Big East game Monday in Omaha.
They just went over it a few days ago.
Creighton (15-8, 7-5 Big East) routed the struggling Hoyas 80-66 in Washington on Saturday and will go for the sweep in a COVID-prompted makeup. The Hoyas (6-17, 0-12) are trying to avoid the ignominy of running the table in reverse in the Big East.
“We still believe in each other every day in practice,” said Hoyas grad student Donald Carey, who averages 13.6 points. “Every gameday, we still approach it as if the record is reversed. That’s how we have to do it if we are going to turn the season around.”
Creighton coach Greg McDermott admitted the setup is “unique” and added, “You have to try to figure out what worked and what didn’t, and you also have to try to anticipate how is Georgetown going to change (things), and then we have to be able to adjust to that.
“Hopefully, we can get our guys in the right mental space to play because we’ll see a much different Georgetown team Monday night,” McDermott said.
Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing gave freshman center Ryan Mutombo his first start of the season Saturday in place of ineffective Timothy Ighoefe, but the 7-foot-2 Mutombo failed to provide much of a spark, with four points in 12 minutes.
“The good thing, I guess, about the way our schedule is right now is we have another game on Monday,” Ewing said. “It’s a lot like the NBA.
“We have to do a better job,” he added, “of getting to them at the 3-point line.”
The perimeter-oriented Bluejays made 12 of 31 (38.7 precent) from beyond the arc, led by Ryan Hawkins, who went 8 for 18 from long range and scored a game-high 30 points.
Creighton was without freshman Arthur Kaluma (9.3 points), who sat out with an injured knee. His status is uncertain, and a shortened rotation would give the Hoyas a potential depth advantage.
–Field Level Media
