OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton avenged its biggest defeat of the season Sunday with an 87-70 Big East Conference victory over Georgetown.
Junior guard Marcus Foster led the No. 20-ranked Bluejays with a career high 35 points that came on 13-of-19 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. His previous high was 34 points when he played at Kansas State.
In a 71-51 loss to the Hoyas on Jan. 25 in Washington, Creighton made just 1-of-19 3-pointers in its second game after starting point guard Maurice Watson was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
On Sunday, it was Georgetown's offense that went south. The Hoyas (14-13, 5-9 Big East) made just 3 of their 22 3-point attempts and were 25-of-65 (38.5 percent) overall.
The Bluejays (22-5, 9-5 Big East) had no problems from the outside in the 17-point rout of the Hoyas. Creighton finished 34-of-64 from the field (53.1 percent) and 9-of-20 from behind the arc before a CenturyLink Center crowd of 17,626.
"Obviously, this was a big win for us," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "Our league is crazy this year. I'm not sure there's a ton of difference between the middle eight teams right now with some of the injuries and things that have happened.
"You've got to be ready to hook it up every game. I thought our guys were really focused, understood what had to happen defensively, and some things we needed to change from last game."
Georgetown coach John Thompson III said not playing defense as well as they did in the first meeting made things easier for Creighton to execute its offensive game plan.
"Our defense in key stretches I think let us down," Thompson said. "The first game our defense was pretty good for most of the game."
There was no slow start this time for Creighton as the Bluejays made seven of their first 11 shots in jumping to a 15-8 lead.
The Bluejays twice extended that lead to nine points before Georgetown began whittling away. But Creighton had offensive answers at the right moments and never lost its lead in the first half.
A 10-3 run that closed with a jumper from the left side by Rodney Pryor brought the Hoyas within 24-22, but that's as close as Thompson's charges would get in the opening 20 minutes.
Creighton's lead stayed between three and six points through the next four minutes before the Bluejays scored the eventually went to the intermission with a 41-33 lead.
Applying a stronger, more consistent defensive effort was a point of emphasis for the Jays during practice leading up to Sunday's game. Senior guard Cole Huff that mission was accomplished on several fronts.
"I think we did a great job of defending their Princeton offense," Huff said. "The first game we gave up a lot of back door cuts and things like that. As far as the transition game, they got a couple here and there, but they weren't nearly as efficient as they were the previous game."
In just 20 minutes, the Bluejays had scored just 10 fewer points than they did during the entire game in January's 20-point loss to the Hoyas in Washington.
Foster and Cole Huff led the Bluejays at the break with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Jessie Govan had 10 to pace Georgetown.
In the first minute of the second half, LJ Peak scored five points to get the Hoyas back within three points at 41-38. That little burst got Creighton's attention as the Bluejays outscored Georgetown 19-6 over the next seven minutes to build a 60-44 lead with 11:55 remaining in regulation.
It was Foster who led the way with eight points during that key stretch. Eventually that lead grew to 18 points at 75-57 on a 3-pointer deep in the right wing by Isaiah Zierden.
Zierden, Huff and Justin Patton joined Foster in double figures with 13, 10 and 10 points, respectively. Peak paced Georgetown with 23 points; Pryor added 16 and Govan finished with 12.
Creighton is now a half-game back of Butler for second place in the Big East standings.
NOTES:
-- Even on All-Star Sunday, NBA teams keep their scouts busy. Representatives from Oklahoma City, Indiana, Brooklyn, Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks were courtside for Sunday's game.
-- The game was a homecoming for Hoyas junior C Akoy Agau. The Louisville transfer graduated from Omaha Central High School, which is less than one mile from CenturyLink Center. Agau finished with nine points after making four of his eight field goals and one free throw; he also led the Hoyas with nine rebounds.
-- The Bluejays will host Providence on Wednesday, while Georgetown will host DePaul, also on Wednesday.
