Washington, D.C. ice cream parlors beware.
For the first time this season, Marquette men’s basketball (10-18, 5-12 Big East) is coming for a ‘road victory milkshake’ after taking down Georgetown (13-15, 5-12) 76-60 Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.
“Kind of a choppy start to the game,” Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart said in his postgame radio interview. “Defensively, they were getting too much at the basket, but I thought we really played with more grit and toughness on the defensive end during the second half.”
The Golden Eagles held a 62-54 lead with 8:20 to play, but anybody who’s watched their other road games this season knew it was far from over.
However, Marquette’s defense held Georgetown to six points and one made field goal — on 13 attempts — over the final eight minutes of the game to cruise to the 16-point win, their second largest margin of victory in Big East play.
First-year guard Nigel James Jr. provided yet another special moment for MU as it attempted to close out the game, throwing down a vicious dunk over junior guard Malik Mack. James Jr. scored a game-high 20 points to go along with his six assists and six rebounds.
NIGEL JAMES HAD THE BENCH GOING CRAZY AFTER THIS POSTER 🤯 @MarquetteMBB pic.twitter.com/e9Xzs5H7OE
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 25, 2026
“He’s just electric, man,” Smart said. “The exciting thing is, mentally, the way he handled early in the game when a few plays didn’t go his way. I mean, he was kind of down on himself for a few minutes, I said, ‘Man, just keep attacking, it’s gonna open up for you.’
“He did a great job of doing that, and on the defensive end, I thought this was one of his better games as well.”
Marquette used an 11-0 run to take hold of the lead down the stretch in the first half. James Jr. scored the first five points, senior forward Ben Gold then chipped in a triple before James Jr. capped it off with his second 3-pointer of the evening.
The Golden Eagles wouldn’t trail for the remainder of the night.
Senior center Vince Iwuchukwu scored 11 of the Hoyas’ 20 points to help them to an early 20-14 lead. Iwuchukwu finished the first half with a game-high 16 points and five rebounds.
Marquette was able to hold the 7-foot-1 big man to just four points on 1-of-3 shooting in the second half. The Golden Eagles also did a better job keeping Iwuchukwu off glass in the final 20 minutes, holding him to two rebounds.
The Golden Eagles found out minutes before tip-off that sophomore forward Royce Parham wasn’t going to start because he was experiencing back spasms. Sophomore forward Damarius Owens filled Parham’s place in the starting lineup and did so effectively, finishing with 11 points and two rebounds.
For only the second time this season, and the first since the second game of the year, all five of MU’s starters scored in double figures. They combined for 71 of Marquette’s 76 points, all playing 33 minutes or more.
“Those were by far the best five guys tonight,” Smart said. “We wanted to play them as much as we could. I thought they showed good toughness and stamina, honestly, while playing a lot of minutes and having a lot expected of them.”
Senior forward Ben Gold tallied his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down a season-high 12 rebounds.
“He’s shown a lot of toughness because he’s been banged up with his ankle and different things,” Smart said. “He’s just a warrior. I love seeing him fight.”
The Golden Eagles got 16 points and three steals from first-year guard Adrien Stevens, who has now scored in double figures in three of MU’s last five games.
Marquette will travel back to Milwaukee where it will take on DePaul on Sunday at 3 p.m. CST. MU’s all-time scoring leader, Markus Howard, will have his jersey retired at halftime of the contest.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
