Bishop leads No. 19 Creighton past cold-shooting Hoyas 63-48

WASHINGTON -- — Just last week, Georgetown dominated Creighton on the Bluejays' home court.

Creighton did the same to the Hoyas on Tuesday night.

Christian Bishop scored 17 points and the 19th-ranked Bluejays capitalized on Georgetown’s worst shooting performance in a decade while rolling to a 63-48 win.

Creighton (15-5, 11-4 Big East) avenged an 86-79 loss that wasn't as close as the score indicated and won for the fifth time in six games.

“We’ve got a little more grit to us now," Bishop said. “We had a little team meeting the other day and figured out some things and decided to come together more as a group and show people what we’ve got. I think we’ve been doing that well the past couple games."

The Bluejays' blowout followed a 71-68 win at Marquette three days earlier. Next up is fifth-ranked Villanova at home Saturday in a meeting of the Big East's top teams.

“We went on a difficult road trip after coming off a tough loss at home and found a way to get two road wins,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said, “and it keeps us in the hunt and sets up what’s going to be a big game.”

Georgetown (5-10, 3-7) had elevated its play while winning two of three since its three-week COVID-19 pause. But against their third straight ranked opponent, the Hoyas looked more like the team that lost eight of its first 11 games.

The Bluejays never trailed and led by as many as 24 points at McDonough Arena.

“We beat them at their home court and they wanted to make sure they beat us here tonight,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said, “and that’s the way they came out.”

Creighton wasn't overly sharp offensively itself, shooting 44.1% overall and 24% on 3-pointers. But with the 6-foot-7 Bishop making 8 of 11 shots and often scoring at will inside, Creighton held a 38-12 scoring advantage in the paint.

Mitch Ballock had 14 points and had four of the Bluejays’ six 3-pointers. Damien Jefferson added 12 points.

Jamorko Pickett led the Hoyas with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jahvon Blair had eight points, less than half his season average, on 3-of-12 shooting.

Georgetown was lethargic throughout. The Bluejays made a school-record 19 steals, with Ballock and Denzel Mahoney swiping the ball four times apiece. The Hoyas, with 24 turnovers, committed more than 20 for the third time this season.

Georgetown shot 27.6%, its worst mark since making 25% of its field goals in a loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 23, 2011.

The Hoyas were fast to shoot 3-pointers rather than work the ball inside against man-to-man defense. The Hoyas launched 20 3s in the first 20 minutes, their most in a half this season and one fewer than their total in their win over the Bluejays.

Georgetown took eight 3s in a row over a 3 1/2-minute stretch of the first half and missed them all. The Hoyas finished 9 of 31 from distance.

“I don’t mind if we take 3s, but the 3 has to come driving the ball into the paint and kicking it out for the 3 or when they double the post, kicking it out for the 3,” Ewing said. “We were just jacking 3s. To a man, I thought we played very selfish.”

BIG PICTURE

Creighton: The Bluejays showed greater energy on the road trip than they have in recent weeks. They're the first major conference team to win seven conference road games this season, their most since 2011-12 when they were in the Missouri Valley.

Georgetown: The Hoyas will want to flush what was the first of four straight home games.

KEEPING WAHAB IN CHECK

Creighton was successful in its strategy of double- and triple-teaming 6-11, 237-pound center Qudus Wahab, who had six points and committed four turnovers after scoring 12 points against the Bluejays last week.

“We decided we would take him out of the game,” McDermott said. “He’s going to feel from the opening tip that we're coming from different spots and swipe that basketball any time they got it in the paint. Our guys were really active with their hands and did it without fouling.”

UP NEXT

Creighton hosts No. 5 Villanova on Saturday.

Georgetown hosts Butler on Saturday.

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