Story By: Richard Thomas
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
This season for the Hoyas has its share of ups and downs, but it seems of late they are getting a lot of ups. After a final second shot with 5 seconds remaining and a solid victory over Butler today setting up a Monday night showdown against Villanova for 1st place in the Big East.
Instead of D’Vauntes Smith Rivera or Jabril Trawick who have closed plenty of games for the Hoyas rather freshman Issac Copeland who took a pass and buried one of the biggest three pointers of his young career.
“We gave Jabril the ball and told him to make a play,” Copeland said. “Everyone just spotted up in their corner, and I made a shot.”
The Hoyas grew the margin to six following seven points in a row by Copeland. He sank his sixth three-pointer of the season during the burst, but Butler answered shortly thereafter with six consecutive points that included two jumpers from Jones, who finished with a game-high 28 points. His second jumper put the Bulldogs in front, 48-47, with 8:51 remaining.
Both Butler and the Hoyas traded buckets for the next five minutes and when the three minute mark hit it looked as of the game could go either way, it did just that in favor of the Hoyas.
“A tough one for us,” Butler first-year coach Chris Holtmann said. “You’ve got to give Georgetown credit — certainly made some plays there late. Give Copeland credit for making the shot from the corner, obviously a big play for them. He seems to shoot the ball pretty well against us.”
