Creighton goes off for a season high 26 assists in victory
On Saturday, February 12th, the Creighton Bluejays handily defeated the Georgetown Hoyas, 80-66. The shorthanded Jays, without starter Arthur Kaluma, managed to steal a game away from home with the heroics of Ryan Hawkins and Ryan Kalkbrenner, while also holding a good three-point shooting team in Georgetown to just 25% from beyond the arc.
When Creighton needed production from their remaining players after having lost Kaluma, Hawkins and Kalkbrenner delivered. Hawkins set a season-high with 30 points on 10-21 shooting (8-18 from three) as well as 12 rebounds. Kalkbrenner was also tremendous, setting a career-high in points (22), rebounds (15), made field goals (10), and field goal attempts (16). The team was also unselfish, with Ryan Nembhard (7), Hawkins (6), Trey Alexander (6), and Alex O’Connell (5) all dishing out five or more assists for a season-high 26 assists as a team.
Georgetown, to their credit, was able to cut the lead to 1 point with 3 minutes left in the first half but were not able to keep up after that. There were bright spots, with Kaiden Rice co-leading the Hoyas with 16 off the bench alongside 16 points from Donald Carey with 16 in the starting lineup. You were able to get three-point shooting going for both of these gentlemen, combining for 5-15 from three. Aminu Mohammed and Dante Harris both added 11 and 10 points themselves, respectively. But when you allow Creighton to get assists on 26 of 30 made baskets, as well as achieve an 80-point game for the first time since they played St. John’s on the 19th of January, you can tell that this Georgetown team had defensive lapses even with the Bluejays being short-handed.
The Hoyas (who fall to 6-17 and 0-12 in conference) will get another crack at the Bluejays (who advance to 15-8 and 7-5 in conference) on Monday the 14th of February in Omaha. Next time around, Georgetown hopes to contain Hawkins and Kalkbrenner, while Creighton hopes to build on their impressive offensive performance with a good showing in front of their home fans.