Coming in as 13.5 point favorites, Marquette had to come from behind a 14 point deficit to hand Georgetown their first conference loss of the season, 74-66. The Golden Eagles improve to 5-0 in the Big East for only their second time ever.
Now 14-2 (5-0), Marquette is riding a five game winning streak. The Golden Eagles have a whole week off before they play in DePaul next Tuesday, January 14th. It’s the second ten day stretch in their last four games.
The Chase Ross Show
It was a career night for Chase Ross as the junior put the team on his back. Ross finished with a career high 27 points. He came into the game averaging under ten points per game. Ross also had a team high six steals, accounting for six of Marquette’s 16.
Marquette had problems turning the ball over themselves. The Golden Eagles finished the night with a season high 13 turnovers, with everyone but Kam Jones in the starting five having more than one turnover.
It was a poor shooting night for Jones, but the team had his back. Jones still finished the night with 11 points, but he shot 4-11 from the field. He still played a team high 37 minutes, and found other ways to contribute with five assists. The past two games haven’t gone in Jones favor, shooting 36.4% against Creighton to go along with his 28.6% performance last night. Eleven points is his second lowest total of the season, going back to the Georgia game on November 23rd when he only scored ten.
Thankfully for Marquette, their free throw shooting was superb. With a majority of their free throws coming in the final minute, Marquette went 23-27 from the line. Ross knocked down nine of the ten free throws he shot. Keep in mind, he only shot ten free throws in his last five games combined. Without the performance of Chase Ross, Marquette would have lost this game.
Georgetown’s Downfall
Georgetown started the game in a zone defense which Marquette couldn’t escape. The Hoyas fell to 12-3, but hung in there until the very end. After being embarrassed by Marquette in both meetings last season, Georgetown should feel confident when these two teams meet again on March 1st.
Even though they made Marquette turn the ball over their most times all season, the Hoyas ended up turning it over 18 times themselves. Georgetown led this game by 9 at halftime, but couldn’t put together a complete 40 minute game. With Georgetown only playing two players off of the bench, fouls became an issue. Caleb Williams fouled out of the game, and Malik Mack and Micah Peavy both finished with four fouls against them.
Coming Up
As previously mentioned, Marquette doesn’t have another game until January 14th. They’ll play a 9-6 DePaul team who plays Seton Hall and Xavier before they meet the Golden Eagles. Georgetown has another top 10 matchup ahead of them as they host UCONN, this Saturday January 11th. After having their five game winning streak snapped, the Hoyas will look to start a new one this weekend against the Huskies.
