Big game on Big Monday

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No. 20 Georgetown to Host Marquette on Big Monday on ESPN

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's basketball team returns home on Monday, Feb. 11, hosting BIG EAST Conference rival Marquette at Verizon Center for Big Monday on ESPN. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN, with Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery calling all of the action. Fans locally can tune to ESPN 980 AM for the radio call of Rich Chvotkin.

The Hoyas are coming off a 69-63 win at Rutgers on Saturday, extending their win streak to five games, the longest currently in the BIG EAST. Georgetown, ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches poll, has won seven of its last eight games to improve to 17-4 overall and 7-3 in the BIG EAST.

Marquette enters Monday's game with a 17-5 overall record and an 8-2 mark in the BIG EAST following an 89-78 win over DePaul on Saturday.

The matchup with the Golden Eagles will be the 15th all-time between the programs, with each team having won seven games. The teams met earlier this season, in the BIG EAST Conference opener for both teams, with Marquette hanging on for a 49-48 win. Georgetown won the last game played at Verizon Center, a 73-70 decision on Jan. 4, 2012.

In Saturday's win at Rutgers, sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr. (Morley, Mo./Scott County Central) recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds, leading four players in double figures.

Porter Jr. leads the team in scoring (15.0 points per game) and rebounding (8.0 rebounds per game) and is third on the team in assists (2.4) and leads the team in blocks (21) and steals (36). He ranks tied for 11th in the BIG EAST in scoring, third in the league in rebounds, but also ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (ninth, 51.3%), three-point field goal percentage (fourth, 45.5%), steals (seventh, 1.80 spg), blocked shots (T15th, 1.05 bpg) and defensive rebounds (2nd, 6.15 rpg). In BIG EAST games, Porter Jr. is tied for fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 16.8 points per game.

Junior guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep), who scored a team-high 20 points in the win at Rutgers, is second on the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game and leads the team with 2.9 assists per game. Starks leads the team with 35 three-point field goals and ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in three-point percentage, connecting on 42.7 percent of his shots (35-of-82).

Junior forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Marks) is fourth on the team in scoring with 7.4 points, third with 5.2 rebounds and second with 2.8 assists, while sophomore center Mikael Hopkins (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha), who scored a career-high 14 points in the Rutgers win, is averaging 6.4 points and 2.2 rebounds. Freshman guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./Oak Hill) is averaging 9.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the last eight games.

The Hoyas have been led by a stingy defensive effort this season, holding opponents to under 60 points in 14 of its 21 games. GU's opponents are averaging 55.7 points per game, which ranks second in the BIG EAST and No. 7 nationally. The Hoyas have limited opponents to 37.6 percent shooting from the field, which is third in the conference. GU has limited its last eight opponents to below 40 percent shooting from the field.