Pierre Brooks erupts, all starters score in double figures as Butler blows out Georgetown

Butler seized control with a 15-0 run in the first half — featuring 13 points by Pierre Brooks II — and went on to crush Georgetown 90-66 Tuesday night in Big East basketball at Washington, D.C.

Butler (13-7, 4-5) returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday to face Villanova and attempt to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive. Teamrankings.com posted the Bulldogs’ odds of making the field at 3%.

Georgetown (8-11, 1-7) is 3-46 against Big East opponents since winning the conference tournament in March 2021. The Hoyas nearly stole a road win Friday before losing 92-91 at Xavier.

Big East scoring leader Jayden Epps, a transfer from Illinois, led Georgetown with 16 points. He shot 4-of-19 from the field, 2-of-13 on 3-pointers.

Butler shot 57%, and 69% on two-pointers.

For the Bulldogs, Brooks scored 20 points, Jahmyl Telfort and DJ Davis 17 each, Jalen Thomas 11 and Posh Alexander 10. Freshman Finley Bizjack scored eight off the bench.

Three takeaways:

Brooks overflows

Pierre Brooks II, Pierre Brooks III, Pierre Brooks IV, Pierre Brooks V.

How many Pierre Brookses are there?

He seemed omnipresent in what amounted to the second quarter. During the Bulldogs’ big run, he scored the first 13 points in 3 minutes, 15 seconds of the clock.  He made three 3s in that spurt, then soon added another 3-pointer to expand Butler’s lead to 38-26.

Telfort Time

Big East play has proven to be daunting for Telfort, a transfer from Northeastern. He had averaged 10 ppg on 29% over the first seven games.

Against the Hoyas, Telfort made his first 3-point attempt (he had been 4-of-20 in the Big East) and used his 6-7 size to exploit mismatches. Combination of size and skills — shooting, dribbling, passing, defense — make him unlike anyone else on the roster and unlike few others in the Big East.

He shot 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 on free throws.

Defense re-emerges

The Bulldogs have sometimes been indifferent on defense but clamped down on Georgetown, as they did in an upset victory at then-No. 12 Marquette.

The Hoyas shot 35% from the field and 26.5% on 3s. In one long stretch of the second half, they shot 2-of-19, or 10.5%.

Butler led by nine points early in the second half but ultimately expanded that to 29.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

BUTLER 90, GEORGETOWN 66

BUTLER (13-7): Telfort 6-10 4-4 17, Thomas 5-5 1-2 11, Alexander 4-7 2-2 10, Davis 5-10 6-6 17, Brooks 8-15 0-0 20, Bizjack 3-5 2-2 8, Screen 0-3 3-8 3, Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Kapke 0-0 0-0 0, Cassia 2-2 0-0 4, McComb 0-0 0-0 0, Gavalas 0-0 0-0 0, Mulloy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-58 18-24 90.

GEORGETOWN (8-11): Cook 5-10 2-4 12, Massoud 3-5 0-0 7, Epps 4-19 6-7 16, Heath 3-8 0-0 9, Styles 4-10 3-3 11, Bristol 2-4 0-0 5, Fielder 0-4 0-1 0, Brumbaugh 0-3 0-0 0, Bacote 1-2 0-0 3, Kazor 0-0 0-0 0, Montgomery 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-66 11-15 66.

Halftime—Butler 44-32. 3-Point Goals_Butler 6-16 (Brooks 4-6, Telfort 1-3, Davis 1-4, Alexander 0-1, Bizjack 0-1, Moore 0-1), Georgetown 9-34 (Heath 3-6, Epps 2-13, Bacote 1-1, Montgomery 1-1, Massoud 1-2, Bristol 1-3, Brumbaugh 0-1, Fielder 0-3, Styles 0-4). Rebounds_Butler 40 (Brooks 11), Georgetown 29 (Cook 12). Assists_Butler 12 (Davis 5), Georgetown 9 (Epps 3). Total Fouls_Butler 14, Georgetown 18.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 3 reasons Butler basketball beat Georgetown: Scorching Pierre Brooks