Marquette 78, Georgetown 72
Feb. 21, 2009 3:26 p.m.
Washington, D.C. -- The Marquette Golden Eagles have reached uncharted waters.
Behind 23 points from Wesley Matthews, 22 from Jerel McNeal and 17 from Lazar Hayward, 10th-ranked MU knocked off the Georgetown Hoyas, 78-72, on Saturday afternoon at the Verizon Center.
The victory was the Golden Eagles' 12th in Big East play, besting their previous high of 11 set last season.
MU's highest total since joining the 16-team league four years ago, the 12 victories also allowed it to continue breathing down the neck of the Connecticut Huskies, who travel to the Bradley Center for a huge showdown on Wednesday night.
The Golden Eagles (23-4, 12-2) out-rebounded Georgetown (14-11, 5-9), 32-29, and committed just six turnovers, helping offset 36.7% shooting in the second half and allowing the Hoyas to shoot 50.9% for the game.
MU also grabbed 12 offensive boards, leading to 16 points, and outscored a bigger Georgetown team in the paint, 34-30.
Chris Wright scored 17 points to lead four Hoyas players in double figures.
Facing a 52-47 deficit with 15:58 left in the game, MU began stringing together consecutive stops defensively and cashing in on the other end -- a far cry from the first half when Georgetown shot the lights out at a 53.1% clip.
The lead changed hands seven times from there until back-to-back baskets by Matthews -- a three-pointer from the wing and then a running, falling layup -- gave the Golden Eagles the breathing room they needed.
From there they clamped down completely on the Hoyas, allowing them just four field goals over the final 6:35, and none from stars Greg Monroe or DaJuan Summers, who eventually fouled out.
MU shot a scorching 60.0% in the first half (18 for 30) but needed a three-pointer at the buzzer from Hayward to head into halftime knotted with Georgetown at 44-44.
The reason?
The Hoyas shot 53.1% themselves, but 63.6% from three-point range -- 7 for 11 -- to stay step for step with the Golden Eagles. Summers and Freeman each had two from long range.
The 7 threes were one more than Georgetown hit in 40 minutes of action in its last game, a 65-40 victory at South Florida three days earlier.
MU shot an even 50.0% -- 6 for 12 -- from beyond the arc itself, with Matthews leading the way by going 4 for 6. He finished 7 for 11 from the floor overall to lead all scorers with 18 points.
Monroe had 11 and Austin Freeman 10 to lead Georgetown.
The opening 20 minutes were a cleanly played affair, with the two teams combining for just 12 fouls, seven free throws and nine turnovers.
The Golden Eagles led by as seven points on the strength of a 13-5 run midway through the first half, but the Hoyas answered with a 12-4 run of their own later on to take a 41-38 lead with 2:28 left.
It was during Georgetown's run that McNeal became MU's all-time leader in field goals made with a floater in the lane at the 3:51 mark.
McNeal passed former leader Bo Ellis, and now has 679.
It's the third all-time category McNeal now owns. He became MU's all-time scoring and steals leader last week. Steve Novak is MU's all-time leader in four categories: three-pointers made and attempted, three-point accuracy and free-throw percentage.
MU closed out the first half with a pair of three-pointers, one apiece by Matthews and Hayward.
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