Marquette @ Georgetown preview
Capital One Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 26, 2020 ) Georgetown 72, Marquette 93
Marquette and Georgetown meet as equals Saturday night in Washington, D.C.
They would prefer to meet as equals in a different way.
The Golden Eagles and Hoyas are both on Big East Conference losing streaks. Each needs a win in the worst way to prevent the season from possibly spiraling out of control, given that there are few easy games in this conference.
Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing knows what his team needs to do to turn things around.
"We don't have a guy that we can throw the ball to and say, ‘Go get me a bucket,'" Ewing said after a 78-67 loss Dec. 23 at Seton Hall. "We are going to have to be able to do it as a team. We are going to have to move people around -- ball movement, body movement -- and then take your shots and make your shots when you have them."
Riddled by a spate of player defections, including the transfer of flashy, high-scoring guard Mac McClung to Texas Tech, the Hoyas are 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
Georgetown is actually scoring decently at 75.3 points per game, but they have allowed 76.5 and also are turning the ball over 16.3 times per game, six more than its opposition. Jahvon Blair's 18.9 points per game leads four Hoyas in double figures.
Marquette has its own problems. An 85-68 loss to Villanova in Milwaukee on Dec. 23 dropped it to 5-5, 1-3. That's a far cry from a promising nonconference run-up that included a buzzer-beating upset of then-No. 4 Wisconsin.
Since rallying in the second half to topple No. 9 Creighton 89-84 on Dec. 14 in Omaha, the Golden Eagles haven't been as consistent as they would like on offense. They sandwiched an 88-point performance in a loss at Xavier with 63- and 68-point outings against Seton Hall and Villanova.
Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski's main concern, though, has been defense. His team has experienced issues defending the 3-point shot in the second half of the defeats to Xavier and Villanova.
"You're talking about two of the best shooting teams in the country," he said. "They made some tough shots and we had breakdowns defensively. When you have breakdowns against teams like Villanova, they make you pay."
Koby McEwen paces four Golden Eagles in double figures at 14.2 ppg. Marquette is averaging 75.3 points and permitting just under 71 ppg.
--Field Level Media