Marquette (17-12, 8-9 BIG EAST) handed Georgetown (15-13, 5-12 BIG EAST) another defeat in the teams’ second meeting of the season, winning 90-86 in a close overtime. Andrew Rowsey took over in the extra period, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points and finishing tied with a team-high 28 points.
The Golden Eagles appeared to have won the game with four seconds left when sophomore Sam Hauser, who also finished with 28 points, hit a stepback jumper from the left wing to give his team a 78-76 lead. Georgetown senior Jonathan Mulmore sprinted fullcourt in the remaining time, banking in a layup to force overtime a second before regulation ended.
It was a sigh of relief for Marquette after a humiliating upset in its game against DePaul Saturday, mostly thanks to Hauser, who hit seven of his eight 3-point shots. Hauser said when he was warming up tonight felt as good as any other night, but “tonight they all fell.”
When asked about Hauser’s performance, head coach Steve Wojciechowski said, “In the dictionary, if you looked up the word winner, you’d find a picture of Sam Hauser in there.”
As a team, Marquette shot 50 percent from the field and 58 percent on 3-pointers. Georgetown was still in control of the game for most of it, even leading by as many as 12 points, mostly thanks to a 55.5 percent first-half shooting performance.
One area where the team showed improvement compared to their game against DePaul was in rebounds. Marquette let DePaul rebound at almost a 44.2 percent rate. This may have been in part due to the absence of redshirt sophomore Harry Froling, who didn’t play in either of the prior two games despite leading the team in rebounding percentage on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Tonight, Froling played nine minutes and hit two timely 3-pointers right before the under-eight timeout of the second half to give Marquette its first lead in over 15 minutes of game time.
Foul trouble for senior Matt Heldt and freshman Theo John was the primary motiving factor behind putting Froling in.
“When I put him in and he was going on the court, I said, ‘Harry, you’re gonna be open, and if you’re open please just shoot the ball,” Wojo said.
Rowsey was another player that made Wojo happy with his performance, particularly with his passing, leading the team with 10 assists for Marquette’s second double-double of the season. “He played an outstanding game … He played a complete game,” Wojo said.
“It was my time tonight. I felt it clicking,” Rowsey said. “I just let the game come to me.”
Marquette will wrap up its season Saturday, March 3 against Creighton for Senior Day.
