The two teams who led the “Catholic 7” break from the Big East met Monday, and finished the night tied for second in the Big East behind Syracuse. Georgetown’s combination of Otto Porter and fierce defense is a tough combination, and when Porter buried a three to make it 17-13 in the midst of six consecutive trips on which the Hoyas forced a Marquette turnover, iand they controlled the rest of the game.
Porter (pictured battling Marquette’s Todd Mayo for a loose ball in the first meeting), scored 21 points and Georgetown forced 19 turnovers for a 63-55 win.
It marked the sixth time in 11 Big East games that Georgetown has held an opponent to 56 points or less, and prior to conference play they held Tennessee to 36 points and Texas to 41 points. They have the Number 1 team in the conference opposing field goal percentage, holding Big East foes only 42% of their two-pointers and 29% on three-pointers.
Porter hit another layup to make it 24-18 with 4:47 to go in the first half, and in a physical game in which both teams denied easy shots, six of Porter’s next eight points were on a perfect 6-6 from the line to push the lead to 43-35 with 11:22 to go. The key point during that stretch occurred when Marquette cut the lead to 37-34 on a three-pointer by Jamil Wilson, and had chance to tie after a stop on the other end.
However, a technical foul after Marquette coach argued Marquette should have retained a possession on a deflected ball resulted in Porter hitting two free throws and a jumper to make it 41-34, and the Hoyas never looked back.
The Hoyas controlled the rest of the way, and Porter left no doubt when he scored and was fouled with 3:42, and made the free throw to make it 60-46.
While Wilson led Marquette with 13 and center Chris Otule had 11, they Hoyas shut down Marquette’s top two players. They denied the ball from 290-pound center Davante Gardner, who took only three shots in a 2 point, 2 rebound performance, and held Vander Blue to 3 of 9 shooting for seven points.
The only Big East game of the night left Georgetown in second place behind Syracuse:
- Syracuse 8-2
- Georgetown 8-3
- Marquette 8-3
- Pittsburgh 8-4
- Louisville 7-4
- Notre Dame 7-4
- Connecticut 6-4 (ineligible for Conference tournament)
- St. John’s 7-5
- Cincinnati 6-5
- Villanova 6-5
- Providence 4-7
- Rutgers 3-8
- Seton Hall 2-9
- DePaul 1-9
- South Florida 1-10
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