Georgetown pulls out tough, character road win against Marquette in overtime

You have to start to wonder when, or even if, Georgetown’s beautiful luck at the end of games is going to start to catch up with them. But on Saturday, Georgetown dealt a similar blow to Marquette that the Hoyas have dealt to West Virginia, or Villanova, or UConn. Call it what you will. Lucky breaks, favorable calls, the bottom line is this: one way, or another, these Hoyas know how to win games, and win games close.

Georgetown improved to 5-0 in games decided by five points or less by knocking off Marquette, in the Bradley Center, 70-68 in overtime. With the victory, the Hoyas have won 11 of their last 13 games, and set themselves up for a showdown on Saturday against Louisville for the Big East regular season title. Marquette led the way for almost the duration of the game. Until the waning moments of regulation when the Hoyas took over and the Golden Eagles had nothing left in the tank in the overtime session.

It was a classic size against speed match up, and for the most part Marquette’s speed befuddled and negated Georgetown’s size. Marquette forced Georgetown into seven turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game. Georgetown finished with 12 first half turnovers, 21 for the game. Marquette capitalized the 21 Hoya turnovers into 26 points. But this boils down to a couple things for Marquette: they couldn’t shoot from the line in the first half and the Hoyas’ defensive effort in the second half.

Marquette allowed Georgetown to hang around in the first half by shooting just 3-of-10 from the free throw line (Jerel McNeal and Dominic James combined to shoot 1-of-7 from the line). Wesley Matthews paced Marquette with 15 first half points, and had just seven points after halftime. While Marquette’s free throw shooting improved in the second half (16-of-22), Georgetown’s defense did as well. They stymied Marquette into shooting 7-of-27 from the field in the second half. At the break, Marquette held a slim four-point advantage, 32-28, and played exceptional for the first eight minutes of the second half, busting out on a 13-2 run to up 11. The Hoyas could have folded. They could have packed it in, but this Georgetown team is resilient and prideful. Quite honestly, they’re not at the top of the food chain in the Big East for nothing.

As good as the guard trio of Dominic James-Jerel McNeal-Wesley Matthews were (trio combined for 54 of Marquette’s 68 points), Marquette never found a solution for Hoyas’ the tandem of Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace, who each had 20 points. It was Wallace again in the last few second of the game who rescued Georgetown from the jaws of defeat. Wallace connected on four free throws in the final 11 seconds to give the Hoyas a chance going into overtime. With Georgetown down 63-60, Wallace drew a questionable foul on Dominic James with 2.8 seconds left in regulation. Ironically, James was called for a foul as Wallace was attempting to get off a game-tying three pointer. Two swishes on the first two attempts and the third bounced around the iron twice before falling through. The air went completely out of the Bradley Center, and the Golden Eagles. 63 all welcomed overtime, where Wallace again cut the hearts right out of Marquette.

With his team trailing by three early in overtime, the banks must have been open late on Saturday in Milwaukee, as Wallace banked in a three as the shot clock expired. Sadly for head coach Tom Crean, there’s no defense he can draw up to defend against 25-foot prayer shot banked off the glass. With one last attempt to send the game to another overtime, Marquette never got a shot off on their final possession. Georgetown forward DaJuan Summers deflected a pass that lead to a Marquette turnover, and the Georgetown win.

Georgetown dominated the frontcourt of Marquette. While Roy Hibbert, DaJuan Summers and Patrick Ewing Jr. combined for 33 points and 29 rebounds, Lazar Hayward and Ousmane Barro totaled just four points on 2-of-10 shooting and six rebounds ( Hayward was held scoreless for the first time this season).

So what does this game mean for both teams?

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For Marquette, the loss more than likely means they won’t be one of the top four teams when the Big East tournament opens next week, which in turn means that the Golden Eagles will have to win three times in three days. For the immediate time being, this could be a deflating loss that may carry over into this week and the Big East tournament. Tom Crean and company need to fix their sketchy free throw shooting before the Big Dance.

As for Georgetown, their opponents from here on better take notice that this team is as good as it gets in the crunch time and close games. The Hoyas are 5-0 in games decided by five points or less. While their opponents seem to wilt and run out of gas late in ball games, the Hoyas continue to look refreshed and unnerved. They keep their poise, they keep coming at you, and they don’t accept losing. As good as Georgetown has been, they’ve had their woes away from the Verizon Center, losing to Syracuse, Memphis, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. This is arguably Georgetown’s biggest road win of the season, setting up the stage for Saturday’s monster clash against Louisville to decide the Big East regular season champion.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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