Hoyas beat Marquette, move up in Big East standings

Otto Porter scored 11 of his 21 points after a momentum-shifting technical foul on Marquette coach Buzz Williams, and No. 15 Georgetown won a stop-and-start game of turnovers and whistles Monday night, beating the 18th-ranked Golden Eagles 63-55 to move into a tie for second in the Big East.

Porter scored Georgetown’s next six points after Williams was whistled while arguing an out-of-bounds call along the baseline with 12:13 to play. The Golden Eagles had cut a 10-point halftime deficit to three, but the Hoyas went on an 8-1 run immediately after the technical, and Marquette didn’t get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Georgetown scored 24 points off Marquette’s 19 turnovers, and Markel Starks added 16 points for the Hoyas (18-4, 8-3 Big East), who won their sixth straight and avenged a 49-48 loss at Marquette on Jan. 5.

Jamil Wilson scored 13 points to lead the Golden Eagles (17-6, 8-3), who fell into a tie with Georgetown behind conference-leader Syracuse (8-2). Chris Otule scored eight of Marquette’s first 11 points, but had only three the rest of the game.

Georgetown won despite going nearly 7 minutes without a field goal to start the second half. The Hoyas went 9 for 24 from the field in the second half, but they compensated by making 11 of 17 free throws in a half that had 24 combined fouls.

With both teams playing aggressive defense and the officials calling a tight game, the flow was practically non-existent. Instead of trading baskets, the Hoyas and Golden Eagles were swapping some combination of turnovers, steals and offensive fouls.

Georgetown didn’t score a field goal in the second half until Jabril Trawick’s baseline layup with 13:04 to play, but the pace was so laborious that the Golden Eagles were only able to outscore the Hoyas 8-2 during that span.

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.

After that, Marquette was never able to regain momentum. Porter’s three-point play with 3:42 remaining made the score 60-46, essentially putting the game away.

Porter was also busy in the first half, grabbing a defensive rebound that was volleyballing about near the free throw line then going coast-to-coast for a layup that gave his team a 24-18 lead. Georgetown closed the first half with a 7-0 run, capped by nice dish from Porter to Mikael Hopkins for a layup and 33-23 halftime lead.

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