Ryan Hawkins hit eight 3-pointers and finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead Creighton to an 80-66 Big East victory over reeling Georgetown on Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
Ryan Kalkbrenner added 22 points and 15 rebounds, both career highs, as Creighton (15-8, 7-5 Big East) took control midway through the second half to hand Georgetown (6-17, 0-12) its program-record 13th straight loss.
The teams meet again Monday in Omaha, Neb., in the makeup of a game that was postponed on Dec. 28 because of a COVID-19 outbreak in Georgetown’s program.
The Bluejays shot 47.6 percent from the floor and hit 12 of 31 shots (38.7 percent) from beyond the arc. They had 26 assists on 30 made field goals, led by Ryan Nembhard with seven helpers and Trey Alexander with six.
Hawkins, who led Northwest Missouri State to the NCAA Division II championship last year, notched his season high in points. He also had six assists.
Kaiden Rice and Donald Carey scored 16 points apiece to pace Georgetown. Carey added seven rebounds and Malcolm Wilson had eight boards. Aminu Mohammed scored 11 points and Dante Harris added 10 points with five assists and three steals.
A layup by Harris with 14:30 left pulled Georgetown to within 50-46. But Creighton followed with a 12-0 run.
KeyShawn Feazell started it with his first 3-pointer of the season and finished it with a slam dunk off a lob from Alexander, who also had a 3-pointer in the spree. The sprint gave the BIuejays their biggest lead of the game, 62-46.
Georgetown later followed with a 9-0 run, fueled by reserve Jalin Billingsley who had five of the points, including his first 3-pointer of the season.
The spurt reduced the deficit to 64-57, but Hawkins answered with back-to-back 3-pointers as Creighton resumed control.
Creighton led through most of the first half when Hawkins scored 19 of his points. The Bluejays got their biggest lead of the half at 38-31 before Carey and Rice answered with 3-pointers to keep the Hoyas close.
–Field Level Media
