For the first time since 2007, the Georgetown Hoyas are the champions of Big East basketball. The No. 8 Hoyas crushed the No. 2 Creighton Bluejays 73-48 to punch their first ticket to the dance since 2015.
Creighton got off to a quick start, taking a 4-0 lead and building it to 13-6. The Hoyas responded with a scoring run of their own, going 7-0 to tie the game at 13. After the Bluejays tied the game at 18, they didn’t score again for the rest of the half. Georgetown senior guard Jahvon Blair went on a one-man 8-0 run, putting the Hoyas up 26-18 before the final media timeout. In the final six minutes before the break, Creighton missed 11 straight shots.
With 18 points and 26.7% shooting in the first half - both season-lows for the Bluejays - Creighton struggled to get back into the game for the rest of the night. The Hoyas took a 36-18 lead into the break.
Georgetown took full advantage of Creighton’s offensive drought, going on a 34-3 run to end the first half and start the second.
After five minutes of the second half, the Hoyas were up 52-21, and Georgetown’s punishing defense kept the Bluejays well outside of reach for the remaining 15 minutes - never allowing Creighton to get any closer than a 25-point deficit.
A last-minute dunk from sophomore center Malcolm Wilson was just the icing on the cake for the Hoyas as they dominated the Bluejays, cruising to their conference record eighth Big East title.
Four Hoyas finished the night in double digits: graduate forward Chudier Bile with 19 points, Jahvon Blair off the bench with 18 points, sophomore center Qudus Wahab with his seventh double-double of the season, adding 11 points and 12 rebounds and the Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, freshman guard Dante Harris, who rounded out his tournament efforts with 10 points, had a career-best eight rebounds and five assists.
With this dominant win, Georgetown became the first team in the Big East to be ranked last in preseason polls to finish the season with the conference title.
“I just think our belief in ourselves, from when we got here, I [kept] talking about the steps,” said Georgetown coach and Hoya legend, Patrick Ewing. “First step is to get the first win. We did that. Second step was to get the second win. We did that. Third step, fourth step, here we are champions. Big East champions.”
The Hoyas are going dancing for the first time in five years, finishing their season with a 13-12 overall record and 7-9 in the Big East.
Despite this loss, Creighton will likely also be dancing, finishing this season with a 20-8 record, including going 14-6 in the Big East.
The Hoyas await their seeding as the Selection Sunday special airs on Sunday March 14 at 6 p.m. EST on CBS.
UPDATE: Georgetown is seeded No. 12 in the East region. The Hoyas will face the No. 5 Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, March 20 at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
Creighton is seeded No. 5 in the West division. The Bluejays will face the No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday, March 20 at 3:30 p.m. ET on truTV.
Maddi Smith (she/her) is a senior studying journalism at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She covers DePaul men’s basketball for Deceptive Speed. She is also a contributor at SB Nation’s Hockey Wilderness and Zone Coverage, covering the Minnesota Wild.