 Thompson always talked about the junkyard dog, having the ‘junkyard dog mentality,’” Ewing said after his Hoyas had defeated the 19th ranked Bulldogs 73-66. “No matter what the adversity is, you scratch and you claw and are able to come away with a win. I think that’s what we’ve been doing, not just today but all season.”Nobody bit the Bulldogs more than Hoyas senior guard Terrell Allen, whose 22 points tied a career high. He hit the game’s first shot as part of seven points in an 11-2 run at the outset, then delivered two of the most crucial baskets when the game got tight late.Butler (19-7, 7-6 Big East) had pulled to within 61-60 with 3:46 remaining when Allen knocked down a pull-up jumper in the paint. After each team missed opportunities, he hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to put Georgetown up 66-60 with 1:28 remaining.Allen hit 9 of 14 shots, including all four 3-point tries.“He played one of the best games that I’ve seen him play, one of the best games since he’s been here,” Ewing said. “He not only scored, he assisted and played great defense.”The Hoyas (15-10, 5-7) improved to 6-1 lifetime at Hinkle Fieldhouse despite missing their top two scorers, Mac McClung and Omer Yurtseven, due to injuries.“Every time something happens with the team, an injury or anything that happens, we just want to continue to fight hard every single night,” Allen said. “Coach Pat does a great job with us, letting us know we can still win games with the people we do have. We have enough talent in the locker room.”Jahvon Blair added 16 points as Georgetown avenged a 69-64 home loss to Butler on Jan. 28.“We’re a hard-working team,” Allen said. “We go out there and fight every single night. We know our (roster) numbers are down, but our minutes are all up and we’re all producing and we all know what we need out of each other.”Kamar Baldwin led Butler with 17 points and Jordan Tucker scored 12 of his 16 on four 3-pointers in the first half. The host Bulldogs didn’t take the lead until early in the second half and failed to hold slim advantages for long.“We struggled to get stops,” Tucker said. “Even when we were scoring, it was like they had an answer back every time.”The Bulldogs were also without a key player in injured point guard Aaron Thompson.But Butler coach LaVall Jordan couldn’t have been more adamant about the earned outcome.“They deserved to win the game,” he said of the Hoyas. “They had guys out, we had guys out, and they were more prepared. So we have to do a better job of being more focused - that’s on us as coaches - and play harder.”BIG PICTUREGeorgetown: Six league games and the conference tournament isn’t much time for the Hoyas to prove themselves worthy of NCAA Tournament consideration, but an inspiring effort suggests there’s still a chance. This team still might need to win the conference tournament to secure an NCAA bid.Butler: Hopes to rise to a possible No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament took a serious hit with a bad home loss. Three of the final five regular-season games are on the road, too. The Bulldogs might fall to a No. 5 or No. 6 seed with a sputtering, late-season finish.UP NEXTGeorgetown: Hosts Providence on Wednesday.Butler: At Seton Hall on Wednesday.---For more college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 14, 2020If Butler wants to make a move up the Big East Conference standings, this is the time to start its run.The No. 19 Bulldogs defeated Xavier 66-61 on Wednesday to enter Saturday afternoon's conference game against Georgetown in Indianapolis with momentum on their side.The Bulldogs (19-6, 7-5) have won two of their last three contests and close out a two-game homestand against struggling Georgetown (14-10, 4-7). They will then hit the road to face off against Seton Hall and Creighton.Butler coach LaVall Jordan said he was encouraged by the team's toughness against Xavier."That's a really good effort and a heck of a team win," Jordan said. "Xavier has been playing really well and we knew it was going to be a battle. Our guys were ready for that. Jordan Tucker was great defensively and our big guys battled. Henry (Baddley) gave us a spark. Our seniors really stepped up." The Bulldogs reside three games behind conference leader Seton Hall (18-6, 10-2), while Creighton (19-6, 8-4) and Villanova (18-6, 8-4) are one game ahead of them in the Big East.Butler managed to defeat Xavier despite in-game injuries to center Derrik Smits and guard Aaron Thompson (head). Smits, the son of former Indiana Pacers center Rik Smits, missed the first 10 games this season with a knee injury and sat out the final 5:16 with the same ailment.The Bulldogs will need a healthy Smits and Thompson to build some momentum for the stretch run. Thompson has started 22 games, averaging 6.6 points and 5.0 assists, with Smits averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds. Jordan said his team came together following the two injuries to key players in their rotation."Leadership and perseverance are big words in our locker room," Jordan said. "When I was seeing about Aaron's injury, these guys are leading the huddle and seeing what happens next." The Hoyas have struggled on the road, with three wins in seven true road games.Georgetown will be well-rested against Butler after notching a quality win by defeating DePaul 76-72 last Saturday.Junior guard Jahvon Blair recorded a career-high for the second time in three games by scoring 30 points against the Blue Demons. Blair is on a hot streak, averaging 24.0 points while playing all 80 minutes in the Hoyas last two games."This was a great team effort," Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing said after the DePaul win. "Everyone helped. Jahvon, he had 30 points, and we needed all 30 of them, but it wasn't just his points. Guys stepped up, guys did everything that we needed for them to do. We still turned the ball over a little more than I wanted but it was a great win." Saturday's game marks a contrast of styles between the two conference teams.Georgetown likes to push the pace and ranks third in the conference in scoring, averaging 76.8 points per game while Butler is last at 68.8 points.The Bulldogs allow a conference low 61.2 points, however, while the Hoyas are ranked last by giving up 73.2 points.--Field Level Media
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