Marquette survived a late 7-0 Georgetown run with help from four points for both Markus Howard and Koby McEwen in the final 1:21 to beat the Hoyas in Washington, D.C., 84-80, in BIG EAST play Saturday.
Howard, currently the nation’s leading scorer, recorded his third 40-plus point game of the season as he carried Marquette (13-5, 3-3 BIG EAST) with 28 second-half points and 42 in the contest on 14-of-31 shooting. The rest of the MU team only scored 14 points in the final 20 minutes.
Down seven with 3:21 remaining, Georgetown (12-7, 2-4) got consecutive baskets from Omer Yurtseven and three Jahvon Blair free throws to tie the game at 76 with 1:34 remaining. However, the Hoyas’ inability to stop Howard in the second half reared its head as Georgetown left Howard alone in the corner for a three-pointer that gave Marquette a lead it wouldn’t surrender again.
The Hoyas could have tied the game with 10 seconds left and Mac McClung at the line, but McClung only hit one of two free throws. The Hoyas fouled McEwen, who hit two shots to boost Marquette’s lead to three. Unlike in a home loss to Providence, Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski instructed Howard to foul with the three-point lead, sending the Hoyas to the line for two shots and an inability to tie the game from the line. Jagan Mosely made his first free throw, but McEwen easily grabbed the missed second shot and hit two more free throws to seal the victory.
McClung led the Hoyas with 24 points, while Yurtseven had 22 and 11 rebounds. Sacar Anim joined Howard in double-figures with 13 points for Marquette, all of which came in the first half.
Marquette returns to .500 in BIG EAST play with its second-straight conference victory and first conference road win. They return to Milwaukee to face St. John’s on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.