Georgetown @ Marquette preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 18, 2020 ) Marquette 84, Georgetown 80

Its first three-game losing streak of the season has Marquette desperate for a win in Wednesday's Big East tilt against visiting Georgetown. The Golden Eagles fell to Providence for the second time this season Saturday - their first Quad 2 loss - but have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, including a date with the undermanned Hoyas.

Marquette has been a study in contrasts this season, going 1-7 in games against teams considered better than them - with the lone win coming over Villanova - and winning all of the others aside from those against Providence. The team itself is also contrasted as one player - Markus Howard - accounts for better than 33 percent of the points, free throws and 3-pointers and two others - Sacar Anim and Koby McEwen - who stand out from the rest of the squad. Howard, who has averaged 24.4 points and hit 21 3-pointers in his last five full games against Georgetown, had his 28th career 30-point game and 11th career game with 38 or more points against Providence, but it wasn't enough to get his team the win. A loss to DePaul, the last place team in the Big East, may have sealed the fate of the Hoyas in terms of receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, particularly with four Quad 1 games against Marquette, Xavier, No. 11 Creighton and No. 12 Villanova to finish the regular season.

TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT GEORGETOWN (15-12, 5-9 Big East): Jamorko Pickett was enjoying a solid game against DePaul with 19 points and seven rebounds before his night was cut short seven minutes into the second half because of cramps. The junior forward has been logging heavy minutes just like the rest of the starters due to the prolonged absence of Mac McClung, who could be back in the lineup against Marquette. Pickett has averaged 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last three games and 11.7 points and 7.8 boards over the last six contests for the Hoyas, who are 4-10 against Quad 1 teams and 11-2 against all others.

ABOUT MARQUETTE (17-9, 7-7): Howard has 2,633 career points and is poised to crack the top 30 on the NCAA career scoring list, where he will soon pass the likes of Davidson's Stephen Curry (2,635), Oklahoma's Wayman Tisdale (2,661) and Navy's David Robinson (2,669). With at least six games remaining, including at least one each in the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament, reaching the top 20 of that list - where Duke's J.J. Redick (2,769) currently resides in 20th - is not out of the question. Howard will also pass Curry in another category - career 3-pointers - as he stands just one behind him with 413 triples.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Georgetown G Jagan Mosely passed former Hoyas great Reggie Williams for 14th place in school history with 330 assists.

2. The Golden Eagles won the first meeting this season with Georgetown 84-80, giving them wins in four of the last five games in the series which they lead 15-13 - 10-3 at home.

3. Marquette leads the Big East and is sixth in Division I with 29.3 defensive rebounds per game, despite no player averaging better than six per game.

PREDICTION: Marquette 85, Georgetown 80