For a while, a win Monday night seemed to be a distant reality for Marquette. The Golden Eagles had a 12-point deficit late in the first half and at one point went almost nine minutes with only one field goal, eerily similar to its performance against DePaul last Saturday. However, a second half offensive surge helped Marquette put up a 50-40 scoring advantage after halftime for a much-needed 90-86 overtime win over Georgetown.
PERIMETER PROWESS PROPELS MARQUETTE
Once again, Marquette overcame shortcomings on other areas of the court with stellar 3-point shooting.
The team shot 58.1 percent from long distance and had five different players make at least one 3-pointer. The only shooter to miss more than two threes was senior guard Andrew Rowsey.
Sam Hauser was near perfect from the perimeter, hitting 7 of 8 from beyond the arc. His first miss did not come until the 1:03 mark in the second half.
“We worked on it. We know that’s what he was going to do,” Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said. “He was successful at it in the beginning and kept on being successful at it.”
“We wanted to put Sam in as many situations where they had to make decisions in crossing actions, and he’s so good at that,” Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “And when you include a ball-handler like Andrew or Markus, it makes for a tough decision for a defense because both those kids are very capable.”
Rowsey’s nine points in overtime allowed the lone senior to match Hauser with a team-high 28 points. Rowsey also had 10 assists and three turnovers.
“Andrew played an outstanding game,” Wojo said. “We certainly needed every one of those (points in overtime).”
That included a buzzer-beating, deep 3-pointer at the end of the first half to cut Georgetown’s halftime lead to 46-40.
“Being down nine is much different than being down six,” Wojo said. “And it gave us a little bit of momentum entering halftime. There’s no question when you make shots at the end of the game, they’re huge. But the shot at the end of the half was equally huge.”
INCREASED ROLE FOR FROLING
After going back-to-back games without playing due to coaches’ decision, sophomore Harry Froling returned to the floor Monday against Georgetown. The Australian native scored six points on 2-for-3 3-point shooting and one rebound in nine minutes of action.
“Harry is a different type of post player than both Theo (John) and Matt (Heldt),” Wojo said. “He can play facing the basket, and he can keep the defense honest with a perimeter shot.”
Wojo initially kept Froling on the bench, but second half foul trouble necesitated Froling’s return. Five different Marquette players finished with three or more fouls.
“We were fouling too much, and I thought the tempo of the game got away from us,” Wojo said. “A couple of the guys who were in foul trouble were Matt Heldt and Theo John, who are guys that have been our primary post players.”
DISPARITY FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Entering play Monday, Marquette has never made more free throws than its opponent.
That trend continued in Marquette’s 90-86 overtime to the Hoyas. Georgetown attempted more free throws (24) than Marquette even attempted (11).
Georgetown’s dominance at the free throw line was emblematic of an overall superiority in post play. The Hoyas finished with a 26-14 scoring advantage in the paint.
However, it could have been much worse for Marquette against one of the best rebounding teams in the conference. The Golden Eagles had a 34-33 advantage in rebounding.
“We should have dominated them on the boards, and we did not,” Ewing said. “We can’t have our big guys just stand on the perimeter and watch shots go up and not go fight for the rebound.”
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Marquette limited the Hoyas to scoring on only 43.8 percent of possessions after halftime, a notable difference from scoring on 55.9 percent of possessions in the first half.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “I know people go to the Internet now when they’re looking up a word,” Wojo said. “But in the old-fashioned dictionaries, if you look up the word winner, I think you’d find a picture of Sam Hauser in there.”
UP NEXT: Marquette will look to snap its two-game losing streak Saturday against Creighton. Marquette won the first matchup in Omaha, Nebraska 90-86 despite missing Howard for most of the game with a right hip contusion.
