With Georgetown down two and just 10 seconds to play, Mac McClung headed to the free throw line with a chance to tie it. His first attempt bounced harmlessly off the front of the rim, leaving Capital One Arena in a stunned silence.
On the other end, Marquette’s Koby McEwen made four clutch free throws and the Golden Eagles escaped D.C. with a 84-80 victory.
Markus Howard led all scorers with 42 points for Marquette, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:21 to play. For Georgetown, McClung scored 24 points and Omer Yurtseven chipped in 22 points and 11 rebounds for his tenth double-double of the year.
The two teams traded blows in the early going, until a pair of Markus Howard three-pointers ignited a 10-0 Golden Eagles run to open up a 19-13 lead. Georgetown was quick to respond, however. Entering the game with just one made trey on the year, Yurtseven found his shooting touch, knocking down two threes in the first half, including this shot to tie the game at 25.
With Howard having to take a seat with two fouls, the Hoyas looked primed to gain some momentum heading into the break. Unfortunately, Marquette was able to keep the Hoyas at bay even without their star player, thanks to solid contributions from Sacar Anim. All 13 of Anim’s points came before halftime, as he also knocked down three triples. Thanks to a strong last few minutes, Marquette took a 42-36 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Georgetown wasted no time in closing the gap. In just three minutes, the Hoyas tied the game with a McClung three-pointer. Jagan Mosely added a three of his own to give Georgetown a three-point lead with just over 13 minutes to play.
With his team reeling, Howard took over for Marquette. The Hoyas struggled to guard the high pick-and-roll, allowing Howard to pick apart the Georgetown defense. Howard also succeeded in frequently getting to the foul line, drawing fouls on the Georgetown bigs when they attempted to hedge high ball screens.
With both sides sensing the importance of the game, the two teams traded blows in the final minutes. A Markus Howard jumper capped a 6-0 run to put the Golden Eagles up seven with just 3:36 to play. Despite playing with four fouls, Yurtseven kept the Hoyas in striking distance with two consecutive buckets. After securing another stop, Jahvon Blair was fouled on a three-point attempt and camly hit all three free-throws to knot the gama at 76 with 1:34 to go.
Facing a tie game, Marquette turned to their best player, and Howard made the shot of the game, a go-ahead three with 1:21 to play. After a Jamorko Pickett drive cut the deficit to one, Howard was sent to the free-throw line yet again. Surprisingly, he made just one of two, opening the door for the Hoyas. On the ensuing possession, McClung was fouled in the process of shooting a pull-up jumper, sending him to the foul line with the game in the balance. We all know what happened next.
While McClung was one of the stars of the game for Georgetown, the missed free-throw at the end will be what’s remembered most. An 80% free-throw shooter on the year, McClung is the type of player you’d expect to embrace big moments. But today, it was Koby McEwen and Marquette, not McClung, who came through in the clutch.
In addition to their struggles guarding Howard off the pick-and-roll, Georgetown was unable to keep Marquette off the glass. Despite their inferior size, the Golden Eagles outrebounded the Hoyas 36-33, and hauled in 13 offensive boards. This is a real concern for a Georgetown team that usually has an edge in the rebounding department.
While the season is far from over, a home loss to a middling Marquette team is certainly a grave disappointment. The game’s outcome was up in the air until the final 10 seconds, but the Hoyas were unable to get it done in front of the sizable home crowd.
Moving forward, Georgetown will need to regroup in time for next Wednesday’s trip to face Xavier. After failing to hold serve at home, the Hoyas have a very slim margin for error the rest of the way. Then again, as crazy as this season’s been so far, I know it’s best not to count these Hoyas out.
