WASHINGTON -- This is unchartered territory for No. 16 Creighton, which plays Wednesday in the nation's capital against struggling Georgetown.
It will be the second full game and first road test for the Bluejays without guard Maurice Watson, Jr., who was averaging 8.5 assists before he was injured against Xavier on Jan. 16.
Creighton won that game 72-67 but lost at home Saturday to Marquette as the Bluejays searched for a leader on the court down the stretch.
"It's probably where we missed Maurice the most," coach Greg McDermott told reporters after the game. "We just didn't have the voice there, nobody to turn to on the floor."
Watson tore the left ligament in his knee and his college career is over. He is from Philadelphia and played at Boston University of the Patriot League before transferring to Creighton (18-2, 5-2 Big East).
Creighton lost 102-94 to Marquette, which played one of its best games of the season and validated that performance with a 74-72 upset victory over No. 1 Villanova on Tuesday.
Watson was averaging 12.9 points per game and shooting nearly 51 percent from the field.
The Hoyas, meanwhile, have their own problems.
Georgetown (10-10, 1-6 Big East) is off to one of the worst starts in conference play in the history of the storied program.
The Hoyas are coming off a loss Sunday at Xavier even though graduate guard Rodney Pryor had 23 points against the Musketeers, who slipped to No. 22 in the AP poll this week. L.J. Peak is having a solid season for the Hoyas, but had very little help at times.
So what happened to the Hoyas?
"Fouling and rebounding, those two areas," coach John Thompson III told reporters after the loss in Cincinnati.
Georgetown showed it can stay with some of the top teams in the conference. But pulling out a win is another story.
The Hoyas lost 16 games in a row in the conference to teams other than DePaul and St. John's.
Georgetown lost six of its last eight games overall and the crowds have been thin of late at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, which is also the home of the Washington Wizards of the NBA.
Creighton, even without Watson, has firepower.
The Bluejays top scorers are junior guard Marcus Foster (18.7 points per contest), freshman center Justin Patton (13.7) and sophomore guard Khyri Thomas (11.9).
Creighton is 5-0 on the road this season.
