Two teams seeking their first Big East win this season will square off Sunday when Georgetown hosts Butler in Washington, D.C.
The Hoyas (5-9, 0-3 Big East) have lost their last 23 regular-season conference games while the Bulldogs (8-6, 0-3) are winless in three tries to begin conference play for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
Georgetown committed a season-high-tying 18 turnovers in their 83-76 loss at DePaul on Thursday. The Hoyas’ carelessness spoiled a trio of career-high performances from guards Primo Spears (11 assists) and Brandon Murray (29 points) along with center Qudus Wahab (16 rebounds).
Wahab corralled seven of Georgetown’s 15 offensive boards against the Blue Demons, but his team struggled to capitalize on its extra possessions and managed just 12 second-chance points.
“We need to continue to rebound the basketball at that high clip,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said, per the Georgetown athletics website. “But we have to be able to capitalize.”
Spears paces Ewing’s squad with 17 points per game, while Murray adds 15.8. Wahab contributes 11.3 points and leads Georgetown with 8.4 rebounds per game. Guard Jay Heath (13.4 points) rounds out the Hoyas’ double-digit scorers.
Butler’s offense has been dormant throughout three losses — all by at least 20 points — to begin conference play, including their 72-52 home loss to Providence on Thursday.
“We’ve gone through these stretches all season,” Butler coach Thad Matta said, according to the Indianapolis Star. “At some point, you’ve got to put the doggone ball in the basket.”
The Bulldogs shot 6 of 24 (25 percent) from the field in the first half and trailed the Friars 46-18 at the break. Guard Chuck Harris and center Manny Bates both logged 10 second-half points for Butler, who fell to 0-6 this season when shooting below 50 percent from the field.
Harris (13.9 points per game) and Bates (13.4) average double figures in scoring for the Bulldogs, as do Jayden Taylor (12.6), Simas Lukosius (10.6) and Eric Hunter Jr. (10.1).
–Field Level Media
