On Feb. 3, Georgetown men’s basketball (8-13, 1-9 BIG EAST) lost in blowout fashion to the ninth ranked Marquette Golden Eagles (17-5, 8-3 BIG EAST), 91-57. In a game that was never really close, the Eagles were able to jump out to an early 11-4 advantage by the first media timeout thanks to a couple of threes, one a piece by senior guard Tyler Kolek and junior guard Kam Jones, and 4 (!) Georgetown turnovers in their first nine possessions.
Although it was only for a short spell, the Hoyas battled back after the first Maquette offensive. First a three by graduate forward Ismael Massoud, then two layups and a free-throw by junior guard Dontrez Styles, and finally a layup by senior guard Jay Heath helped the Hoyas pull to a 18-14 deficit with just over ten minutes in the period. But, with time before the next media timeout dwindling, the Golden Eagles recaptured momentum with a Kolek layup and a turnover by redshirt freshman guard Rowan Brumbaugh on the very next play. Unfortunately for Georgetown, that’s where the wheels came off.
Coming out of the break up 6, Marquette went on a 14-0 run, led by four made threes to take a commanding 34-14 lead with under seven to play in the first half. The Hoyas would battle to the end of the period, but it was nowhere near enough as Marquette and head coach Shaka Smart jumped, danced, and did whatever else they wanted, going into halftime up 44-22. On the bright side, Massoud, after struggling for much of BIG EAST play, led the way in scoring for the Hoyas with 7 in the period. On the less bright side, four Golden Eagles tallied as many or more points in the first, with Kolek and junior forward David Joplin each in double figures. Sophomore Hoya guard Jayden Epps, the BIG EAST’s leading scorer entering the game, went into half with only two points, having missed all four of his shots from the field.
At least the frisbee dog halftime show was fun to watch.
The second half started out with more of the same. Marquette built their lead out to 55-29 by the under-16 media timeout. The Hoyas only made two from the field in this segment— both from Brumbaugh. However, even his momentum was stemmed with more turnovers. Where before there was effort, the Hoyas looked completely defeated as the deficit continued to grow. Georgetown was slow down the floor, lackadaisical in ball screen coverage, late into box-outs and close-outs, and on top of all of that, could not make a shot. By the under-8, Marquette’s lead had swollen to 79-38. Jones in particular was having himself a day, leading the game with 27 points, the vast majority coming in the second period.
With a free-throw at 4:48 left in the game, Styles became the first Hoya to reach double digit points. Brumbaugh joined him in double figures on a made pair of free-throws with under three minutes remaining. Freshman forward Drew Fielder would become the final Hoya in double figures with a dunk inside the final minute. But again, Marquette continued to roll, maintaining the advantage even without their stars in the game. In the end, the Golden Eagles would come away with the 91-57 win.
One interesting thing to note: Heath did not see a single minute of play time in the second half. Jones led the game in scoring at 31 points, and Epps finished with an anonymous seven points on 25% shooting.
The Hoyas will go on the road on Wednesday Feb. 7 when they search for a win against the Seton Hall Pirates (14-8, 7-4 BIG EAST) at 6:30 pm at the Prudential Center. The game will be broadcast on FS2. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
