The Morning After: Marquette Golden Eagles vs. Georgetown Hoyas

Georgetown vs. Marquette - Quotes - Georgetown University Official Athletic Site
On Mikael Hopkins contribution... Mikael got nine rebounds, a career-high. God bless him, now he has to do it again on Saturday. He did a good job in that regard, but he's supposed to do a good job. If you talk about him, the one thing I'd talk about more than anything else is the defensive job on trying to make it hard for (Davante) Gardner and (Chris Otule) to get the ball where they wanted the ball. Those two guys are good at getting the ball where they want the ball. Gardner is big, he can score and he's a good passer, so when he gets it down there, everyone is in jeopardy, not just his man. So I think Mikael, Nate and Moses, when he was in there, did a good job of not letting him get the ball where he wanted it.

Georgetown beats Marquette, finally controls Big East destiny | CollegeBasketballTalk
Here’s a team that struggled to break 40 points throughout much of December, dropped to 0-2 in the Big East when they were pounded by Pitt at home and lost their second-leading scorer and most versatile defender to academic issues when the second semester began. I wrote the Hoyas off. You wrote the Hoyas off. Just about everyone except for the people in John Thompson III’s locker room wrote the Hoyas off. And here they are, on February 11th, with a legitimate shot at winning the Big East regular season title.

How far will Porter lead Georgetown? - Men's College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
Georgetown is not going to overwhelm anyone with its offense. In Big East play, the Hoyas have topped the 70-point threshold twice -- against Seton Hall and Providence, and that probably shouldn’t really count. Georgetown is built on its defense, which is more suffocating than swarming. The Hoyas forced 19 turnovers against Marquette, but as many were unforced yips as coerced errors. Truth be told this wasn’t their finest effort. They allowed the Golden Eagles to shoot 43 percent for the game, well above the 36 percent they typically give up. "We have to tighten some things up a little bit," John Thompson III said.

Late Night Snacks: Kansas rolls, Hoyas take hold in the Big East | CollegeBasketballTalk
Otto Porter continues to do everything the pundits expected him to do this season. The sophomore dropped in 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds in a game that the Hoyas took control of midway through the second half.

ATB: The Usual Kansas, Georgetown Grinds Out Marquette and The Game That Shall Not Be Played…Rush The Court | Rush The Court
Georgetown and Marquette brought the polar opposite ends of the offense-defense balance into their Big Monday night game, and when a great offense (Marquette owns the nation’s 17th best O, per KenPom) meets an even better defense (The Hoyas are 10th in defensive efficiency), the outcome is simple and predictable. Georgetown held Marquette to 55 points, leaned on Otto Porter Jr. for another All American-worthy performance (21 points, seven rebounds), and finished the night with Big East win number eight, its sixth straight.

NCAA College Basketball Recap - Marquette Golden Eagles at Georgetown Hoyas - Feb 11, 2013 - CBSSports.com
Porter has been doing just about everything in every game lately. He's been the catalyst for Georgetown's improved play since that loss to Marquette more than five weeks ago. "We've evolved a lot from that first Big East game to now," Porter said. "I think we've made a lot of adjustments, just learning from our mistakes."

Vox Populi " Postgame Roundup: Georgetown posts sixth win in a row
Marquette grabbed an early 11-6 lead five minutes into the game. The Golden Eagles scored easy baskets in the post including 6 points from center Chris Otule. The Hoyas quickly responded, though, with 2 three pointers from Starks that started a 10-2 Georgetown run. The Blue and Gray claimed a 14-11 advantage that they would not lose for the rest of the game. "I think our big guys got in a rhythm of what they were trying to do," Thompson said. "We didn’t necessarily make a tactical change. Our big guys just did a better job of guarding [Otule]."

No. 15 Georgetown Hoyas top No. 20 Marquette Golden Eagles
Meanwhile, Williams, known for his inability to stay in front of his bench, was again pushing the envelope — twice venturing close to the midcourt circle with play under way in the first half. Officials spoke to Williams at length after he ran far onto the court to call a timeout, but no technical foul was assessed, and Georgetown fans began serenading him with chants of "Off the court!" in the second half. Williams finally got his technical — but it came when he was disputing a questionable call with 12:13 to play. Porter, whose assertiveness has helped fuel Georgetown's recent surge, made both free throws and then hit a floater on ensuing possession to complete a four-point series for Georgetown that pushed the lead to 41-34.

No. 15 Georgetown vs. No. 18 Marquette final score: Hoyas win sixth straight, 63-55 - SBNation.com
The shooting woes didn't matter much in the end, as Marquette struggled to take care of the ball. Marquette went into halftime shooting 50 percent from the floor but still trailed 33-23 because of turnovers -- 12 at half, compared to just nine field goals made. It didn't get much better for Marquette in the second half, as they finished with 19 turnovers while making just 20 field goals

Georgetown men’s basketball beats Marquette to stay hot in Big East play - The Washington Post
As in the teams’ first meeting, Coach John Thompson III relied on only seven players, while Williams substituted frequently to keep his players’ legs fresh and his press intense. But this time, the Hoyas defended until the final play after getting off to a suspect start, allowing No. 18 Marquette’s 6-foot-11 center, Chris Otule, to hit four baskets in the first four minutes.

Georgetown beats Marquette by technical knockout | WashingtonExaminer.com
Williams, who had brazenly ignored the sideline all evening to incur "Off the court!" chants from the Verizon Center crowd of 11,821, appeared to have a legitimate complaint that a Georgetown player had a hand on the ball. Instead he got a technical foul, and the 15th-ranked Hoyas (18-4, 8-3) used the ensuing two free throws from Otto Porter Jr. (21 points, seven rebounds) to kick off an 8-1 run. The Golden Eagles never got closer than the game's final margin.

Georgetown 63, Marquette 55 - Turnovers, technical lead to loss for Marquette
The four-point Georgetown possession after the technical did not necessarily cost the Golden Eagles the game. Exceeding their turnover average by almost eight against a good team did. But it certainly didn't help as the Hoyas quickly rebuilt their lead to 10 points and maintained their signature stranglehold for the remainder of the game. Bottom line, the timing of the technical was no better than some of the passes that casually found their way into Georgetown hands.