Georgetown basketball falls to Marquette and Markus Howard, who scores 42

August 05, 2024

For the bulk of the second half Saturday, Georgetown valiantly pulled off a long three-pointer or finagled a critical jumper to keep the game close every time Marquette threatened to rattle off a run. But with chances to tie the score in the final minute, the Hoyas missed when it mattered most and suffered their first Big East home loss, 84-80, at Capital One Arena.

Trailing 80-78, Georgetown struggled to get off a good shot before Marquette’s Brendan Bailey provided a sliver of hope by fouling Mac McClung with 10 seconds to go. But the sophomore from Gate City, Va., missed one of two free throws. From there, Koby McEwen put the Golden Eagles back up by three with a pair of free throws. When Hoyas senior guard Jagan Mosely was fouled with five seconds left, he missed a free throw as well.

McEwen sealed the win with four seconds to play from the foul line.

“We played hard, but we didn’t play well enough to get the job done,” Georgetown Coach Patrick Ewing said.

Markus Howard, college basketball’s leading scorer, carried Marquette with 42 points on 14-for-31 shooting, including 6-for-14 on three-pointers. Sacar Anim was Marquette’s only other player in double figures, with 13.

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McClung led four Hoyas players in double figures with 24 points, though he made just 5 of 8 free throws to continue a trend in Big East play. After making 90 percent of his foul shots in nonconference games, McClung is shooting 63 percent from the line against league opponents, who have granted him about four more free throws per game.

Senior center Omer Yurtseven had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Mosely had 11 points, and Jamorko Pickett added 10. But Ewing pointed to defense — more than missed offensive opportunities in the final seconds — as the difference in a close game.

“We didn’t do a good job on the pick and roll,” Ewing said. “One, [Marquette’s] guards were looking for the pick and roll. Two, bigs didn’t get up in time to show or help; [Howard] was either driving away or splitting or driving around, or we just weren’t there. They’re a good team, he’s a good player, and we can’t give them everything.”

What Georgetown (12-7, 2-4) did give up were rebounds. On paper, Marquette’s edge on the boards looked minimal: It outrebounded the Hoyas 36-33. But too many of those were crucial offensive boards. The Golden Eagles had 13 offensive rebounds to Georgetown’s nine and led 17-8 in second-chance points — exactly the type of buckets that appeared to sap energy from an already short Hoyas rotation.

Ewing said his team, which beat Creighton on Wednesday despite the fact that McClung and point guard Terrell Allen were visibly under the weather, took Thursday off to recover. The Hoyas practiced with their full roster Friday.

“When you play a team like this, we can’t give them 13 offensive rebounds for 17 points,” Ewing said. “We have to do a much better job of boxing out. ... That’s another weak period we lost the game in. We have to step up, we have to make our free throws, and guys have to make shots. ... It’s a little bit of everything.”

Georgetown did well to feed Yurtseven in the post early on, helping the 7-footer score 14 points before halftime. But what good movement and solid looks the Hoyas got on offense — they shot 58 percent in the first half — they lacked on defense as Marquette (13-5, 3-3) chucked up shot after shot.

The Golden Eagles took 35 attempts to Georgetown’s 26 in the first half, in large part because of Howard. The senior shot 5 for 13, including 4 for 8 from beyond the arc, before intermission and led his team with 14 points. Marquette shot 8 for 19 from deep in the first half and 10 for 27 for the game.

Marquette soared even when Howard went to the bench with two fouls. The Golden Eagles went into the locker room at halftime with a 42-36 lead.

Georgetown opened the second half on a 10-4 run to pull even at 46 and kept things competitive; the Golden Eagles never led by more than seven in the second half.

The Hoyas trailed by three with two minutes to play after a jumper from Yurtseven. Howard missed a three-pointer on the other end, but Georgetown again couldn’t get off a good shot before Marquette committed a foul. This time, the Golden Eagles put guard Jahvon Blair on the line, and the junior hit all three of his free throws to notch his first points and tie the score at 76 with 94 seconds to play.

Howard made a three-pointer on the other end to put Marquette ahead, and Pickett responded with a layup to make it 79-78 with 53 seconds to go. It was the first of two moments in the final minutes in which the Hoyas trailed by just one.

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