HINKLE MAGIC: Georgetown Defeats Butler, 77-64, for Third Win in a Row

Your Georgetown Hoyas (12-10, 4-7 BIG EAST) traveled to Hinkle Fieldhouse this snowy weekend and took down the Butler Bulldogs by a score of 77-64. This was the third consecutive BIG EAST win for the Hoyas, who are benefiting both from markedly improved team cohesion on the floor and the presence of Vince Iwuchukwu. 

Speaking of the big man, he scored 17 points and 6 rebounds, plus went 4/4 from the line. Malik Mack also had 17 points and a half dozen assists. KJ Lewis added 14 points, and a pair each of assists and steals. The team as a whole shot 50% from three point range—something fans have seen before on the historic Hinkle hardwood.

Butler was coming off a 22-point smackdown at SJU, while Georgetown had a convincing and long overdue win at home over DePaul. The concerning pregame news du jour pertained to Julius Halaifonua, who was unavailable due to some sort of back pain that led him to remain on the bench in warmup gear.

The Hoyas’ gameplan was cooking early, with Mack finding Iwuchukwu for a dunk on their first possession, followed not long after by a triple from Lewis.

Butler scored three unanswered buckets, but the hosts’ inattentiveness on an inbounds play creating an opening for Lewis to grab a steal and dunk it.

With Halaifonua unexpectedly sidelined, Jayden Fort stepped in for early minutes and immediately worked his way inside for a layup. On the next possession, Isaiah Abraham found Fort again in the paint and he converted. Iwuchukwu banking in a three off the glass wasn’t on my bingo card, but damn we’ll take it.

Kayvaun Mulready notched what was already the team’s third triple of the night to put Georgetown ahead 21-20. Iwuchukwu’s turnaround jumper added another pair. Through the first 10 minutes, the lead changed hands on what felt like every possession, but the Hoyas were able to execute more cleanly.

For the entire season thus far, long range shooting has been a sore point for the Hoyas, so seeing Mack also hit from three drew into sharp relief how much easier it is to stay in control of games when shots are falling. (Note: Yes, this is obvious. Yes, it’s a nice change to be on the happy end of it so it belongs in print.) Two more baskets from long range delivered by C. Williams and Lewis on consecutive possessions had the Hoyas on top 31-23 with 7:37 remaining in the first half. 

The Bulldogs once again went on a three field goal run, however a layup and a triple from C. Williams (with strong coverage from Fort on the intervening defensive possession) put Georgetown up by 9. There were good hands again by Fort to corral a rocketed pass from Lewis and finish in the paint. A trio of big dunks from Butler fired up the home crowd, but the Hoyas remained in control, ahead 43-39 at halftime.

Coming out of intermission, seeing Mack and Iwuchukwu score from the floor was what you want. Watching Butler draw fouls in the paint and convert off second chances to pull within one was…troubling, to say the least. 

Then Iwuchukwu grabbed an offensive rebound and finished with a layup. Jeremiah Williams found Fort who floated in a long fallaway jumper. Iwuchukwu tipped in another from the paint, then disrupted a layup at the other end. Lewis dribbled around two defenders and drilled a contested pullup jumper. Mulready earned a trip to the freethrow line by attacking the basket after grabbing a rebound, and Mack finished a driving layup off the steal from Lewis. 

What wasn’t happening during this sequence? Offensive execution from the home team that wasn’t from the stripe. What was happening? Butler was living through the familiar exasperation and agony of missing layups. More than five minutes of gameplay elapsed before the Bulldogs scored another field goal. At the 10:45 mark, Mulready’s catch-and-shoot three put Georgetown up 61-50.

J. Williams responded with a nifty jumper after another Butler dunk. A long three from the Bulldogs followed by a pair of foul shots was threatening to derail Hoyas. When Iwuchukwu bobbled a pass and had it nicked, the paranoia had started to peek back in.

Except Iwuchukwu prevented further damage at the other end with good rim protection. The Hoyas offense failed to convert a clean look, but Iwuchukwu and Fort teamed up to cause a shot clock violation on the next Butler possession. And then? Lewis fed Mack for a three attempt, and it was good. Iwuchukwu drew contact while putting up a shot, got the whistle, and made both to put Georgetown ahead 68-61 with 4:45 to play.

When Lewis hit a contested triple — the Hoyas’ TENTH three pointer of this outing — it felt like the game was over. The Bulldogs had chances, and second chances, and even some third chances, but the rim was not letting anything through to break that drought for them. 

Lewis hit a final pair of freethrows, and Georgetown switched from attacking to trying to play through as much of the shot clock as possible. J. Williams closed it out with a final basket to make it 77-64.

These Hoyas have now seen consistency and execution pay off with wins. There are definitely areas that can be improved, but that refinement should be balanced with focusing on just maintaining momentum and continuing with this approach. Because it is working.

Next up the Hoyas have a couple of home games. They host Creighton this coming Wednesday 2/4 @ 7:30pm, airing on Peacock.

Hoya Saxa. Keep it going.