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Creighton heats up in second half to throttle Georgetown

Jan 2, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Creighton Bluejays guard Steven Ashworth (1) passes the ball as Georgetown Hoyas guard Rowan Brumbaugh (1) looks on during the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Trey Alexander tallied 25 points and five assists, leading hot-shooting Creighton to a 77-60 Big East victory over Georgetown Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Baylor Scheierman contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds for Creighton (10-4, 1-2) which broke out of a slump after losing three of its previous four games.

The Bluejays seized control in the second half, as they took advantage of a 42-21 overall edge on the boards and 42-22 overall advantage on points in the paint.

Ryan Kalkbrenner played a big role inside for Creighton as he finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

Rowan Brumbaugh scored 19 points and Jay Heath added 11 points for Georgetown (7-7, 0-3), which lost its third straight this season and fifth in a row to Creighton.

Heath was a replacement in the starting lineup for the Hoyas’ top scorer, Jayden Epps (17.8 points per game) who was in a walking boot, with the injury to his right foot considered day-to-day.

Without Epps, Georgetown struggled from the floor, shooting just 38.3 percent, while Creighton hit 55.9 percent from the floor and 8 of 25 (32 percent) from beyond the arc.

After leading by four at halftime, Creighton executed brilliantly at the offensive end in the second half to pull away convincingly. The Bluejays had just three turnovers after intermission after committing 11 in the first half.

The Bluejays made 13 of 17 shots as they outscored the Hoyas 30-11 over the first 10:21 of the period.

Alexander did much of the damage during the run, scoring 11 of the points. His 3-pointer to culminate the spree gave Creighton a 58-35 lead.

Kalkbrenner maxed out the Bluejays’ edge with a hook shot which put them up 68-44 with 5:41 left.

In the first half, Heath scored nine points to stake Georgetown to an early 15-10 lead. But then the Hoyas went cold, missing 10 straight shots in a dry spell that lasted nearly seven minutes.

The Bluejays took advantage, going on a 14-2 run which was triggered by a 3-pointer by Steven Ashworth (seven points, seven assists) and closed by a trey from Scheierman, which gave Creighton a 24-17 lead.

Reserve Ismael Massoud gave Georgetown a lift, hitting a 3-pointer and a fallaway jumper as the Hoyas cut the deficit to 28-24 at the break.

–Field Level Media

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