Hoyas get a much-needed win against Butler

The Georgetown Hoyas beat the Butler Bulldogs 73-70 on Friday night at Capital One Arena in a much-needed bounce back win after two straight losses and 6 losses in their previous 7 games. The Hoyas were paced by Micah Peavy and Thomas Sorber and got very important contributions from Malik Mack and Caleb Williams. It wasn't always pretty as the Hoyas shot 2-17 from three point range and got a lot of help from a not-very-good Butler team, but it was an important win to keep the Hoyas on track with the middle of the Big East pack.

The Hoyas were without Jayden Epps in this game due to illness so Caleb Williams joined the "normal" starting lineup in Epps' absence. The Hoyas jumped out to an early lead and looked very in control through the early part of the game. Thomas Sorber established himself early, scoring 8 of the Hoyas first 12 points and assisting on one of the other two baskets. It didn't fully last as Butler made a nice little run to get back in the game and the first half largely went back and forth. After Butler erased the early 5-point Georgetown lead and built their own 5 point lead, which Georgetown quickly erased, neither team led by more than three the rest of the half. Butler went into halftime with a one point lead.

The second half started much the same as the first with up and down and back and forth play until the Hoyas went on a 15-0 run starting with about 17 minutes remaining in the game. They used stifling defense, strong passing, and good work on the boards to take control of the game. During the run, the Hoyas out rebounded Butler 4-1, including an offensive rebound from Caleb Williams on the only shot the Hoyas missed in the stretch. They also had 4 steals and assists on 4 straight made baskets during the run. It was a really impressive string of play from just about every guy on the floor during the run. They did allow Butler to creep back into the game in the latter half of the second half, needing to hit free throws to ice the game after Butler cut the lead to 3 with 5 seconds remaining, but this run largely ended the game. It seemed like the platonic ideal of how the Hoyas would like to win games this season: strong defense forcing tough shots or turnovers and easy buckets on offense either in transition or without the defense being able to appropriately pressure them. There was good ball movement, good finishing, and a mix of shots at the rim and the occasional three ball (the only three point shot they took during this stretch was one of two that went in all game).

It wasn't otherwise an impressive win for the Hoyas. Butler is pretty bad and Georgetown made enough mistakes to let them hang around in the game. But the Hoyas really needed this win and they went out and got it despite their awful outside shooting and despite some atypical defensive lapses outside of the 15-0 run. The win allowed them to keep pace with the pack of teams chasing the 5 seed in the Big East tournament and the first round bye that comes with it. Capturing that 5 seed won't be easy for this team as they really haven't shown the same level they showed against Creighton and Xavier early in the season, but this game was important to building their confidence to get back to that level.

Some game notes:

• The Hoyas only turned the ball over 6 times in this game and a couple of those came very late when the game had largely been decided. Butler does not have the same talent or athleticism to pressure the ball that some of the top teams in the league have, but the Hoyas played smart with the ball and avoided dumb turnovers all game. This would be a very welcome improvement.
• The sub patterns in this game were much better. Micah Peavy still played 37 minutes and Thomas Sorber still player 35 and Malik Mack played all 40, but Coach Cooley used the approach from the Creighton game (subbing for guys right before TV timeouts to steal extra minutes) to great effect. Jordan Burks still didn't play enough (only 3 minutes and none in the second half) and the rotation continues to be very short and inconsistent. But, especially without Jayden Epps, getting even a few minutes of rest for some of the key guys is a big improvement. It still seems like Coach Cooley kinda...forgets? to make subs at certain points, but it was least better in this game.
• Curtis Williams was non-existent on offense for most of the game and has not managed to find the shooting stroke he had earlier in league play but he played some really good defense on Butler's Finley Bizjack in the second half and hit some important free throws to seal the game as well. He committed a really bad foul late in the first half that could have marred his performance on top of his poor shooting, but he bounced back well defensively in the second half. There was a moment late where it seemed as though Williams would leave the game with a True Vesely, but he played the last several minutes of the game without fouling while also generally making life difficult for Bizjack and the Butler attack.
• Micah Peavy had an outstanding all around game in this one. We've largely come to both expect and rely on this type of performance from Peavy, but after a slow start where he settled for jumpers failed to attack the rim, Peavy really controlled the game for the Hoyas. He got to the rim largely at will, led the team in rebounds, and played stifling defense on Butler's best player Jahmyl Telfort. In a close game where the Hoyas needed him, Peavy did it all.
• Malik Mack struggled shooting the ball (going 0-5 from deep) and continues to seem unsure of himself around the rim, presumably due to his size, but he distributed the ball well (6 assists), had 5 strong rebounds, played fairly good defense in stretches, and hit a couple of very big midrange shots late to keep Butler at bay as they threatened to get back in the game. If Mack makes two of his three pointers, this would've looked like an outstanding Malik Mack game. He needs to figure out how to make better, more aggressive decisions at the rim, but he made a nice impact on this game.
• Caleb Williams was very good in extended minutes. He rebounds well, plays solid defense, and has a knack for being in exactly the right place at the right time. He had a nifty finish at the rim in this one and hit a big mid range jumper off an offensive rebound to jumpstart the 15-0 run. He's going to be a really nice player for this team moving forward.
• Thomas Sorber was once again excellent in this game. He was dominant early against Butler's Boden Koepke, but struggled at times when the much bigger Andre Screen entered the game. Screen was able to get good looks in the post against Sorber and his size bothered Sorber on the offensive end. In the second half, however, the Hoyas used good switching and aggressive fronting to bother Screen and Sorber used his quickness and athleticism to combat Screen's size on the offensive end. It looked like Screen was going to really cause problems for Sorber during the first half, but Sorber adjusted in the second half and mitigated a lot of Screen's impact in the second.
• Andre Screen committed a moving pick foul at one point in the second half which led to a really good "You might call that...an illegal SCREEN" shout from Uncle Dad. These are the important details.
• Drew Fielder hit the only two threes for the Hoyas in this game and has shot it much better lately. It's be really big for the Hoyas ability to space the floor if Fielder is returning to the shooter we saw last year. They need that element to the offense in order to generate consistent offense.
• The Hoyas finally eclipsed the 70 point mark in Big East play, something they hadn't done since the opener against Creighton. They did it without Jayden Epps and while shooting 2-17 from deep so there are things to build on here. The offense still wasn't overly crisp or complex, but they generated a lot of looks at the rim and the ball moved much better. It's fair to wonder, especially after the last couple of games, if some of that was due to Jayden Epps missing the game and some of it certainly has to do with Butler being the 9th ranked defense in the Big East, but it should serve as something to build on for the Hoyas.
• We need to keep an eye on how the offense looks upon Jayden Epps' return. This team is at its best when Jayden Epps is involved in the offense as an off-ball shot-maker and secondary (or tertiary) creator going to the bucket. He hasn't been that of late and the offense had its best outing in a bit without him so this is something to monitor. His ability to come back and fit within the offense will go a long way toward determining how the Hoyas finish out this season.
• The Hoyas have won 5 Big East games this season. They won 4 in the previous three seasons combined. This is better. Let's build on it, but this is better.

Next up is a tough road matchup against a Xavier team that has looked much better since their loss at Georgetown in December (including wins over both UConn and Marquette) and is coming in well rested after almost a full week off. How the Hoyas look in this one should be an indicator of their ability to build momentum for the back half of conference play.