Hoyas hope to be on time and target today at MU

January 24, 2015 - When asked about attacking Marquette's myriad zone defenses, freshman Georgetown forward responded "We see the gaps, we just have to make sure we deliver on time and on target". They get their chance to execute it 230p today in Milwaukee, for a game pitting the BIG EAST's co-top team Georgetown against its ninth slotted squad.

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Copeland's comments refer to G'Town's trouble with Marquette on January 6th, a 65-59 Hoya victory. The Golden Eagles, a team with less than ten scholarship players deployed zone defenses which at times flummoxed head coach John Thompson's crew, and were key in the Blue and Grey's 15 turnovers.

Thursday he noted "Looking at the first time we played them, we were very stagnant" against those zones, while also detailing other zone offense wrinkles that must be improved upon. For more from the coach, Copeland, senior center Joshua Smith, junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and freshman guard L.J. Peak, see Premium Court. They discuss attacking zones, sharing a top position in the conference, Marquette players and more.

That includes a possible let down. The topic made sense, given the two team's league positioning and G'town's 78-58 win over number four nationally and then top slotted BIG EAST squad Villanova, this week.

Copeland addressed a possible let down, saying "No matter if they're the top team in the country or the bottom team in the country, we have to come out hard".

His coach thinks the message has truly sunk in with his players. With a caveat.

"You have 17 to 22 year old men in there, and that's a very unpredictable pool in anything in life" he opined. "But that being said, I think there's an honest understanding that it isn't just coach speak, that's it's an honest realization on their part that every team in the league is good. I think they realize that every team has a small margin for error. We have to play very well, every night. And that's part of being in the BIG EAST.

"I think that's genuine on their part. I think that they do understand that. How we respond to it, we'll see".

Yes we will, this afternoon.

Does the conference's fourth highest scoring offense team in Georgetown, one shooting 46.7% from the field (third best), holding teams to a second best slotted 39.4% from the field go into hostile environs and add a fourth straight 'W' to its record? Or will the BIG EAST's home team tendency - 23 off 33 times home teams have taken tilts, with G'Town going 4-0 in DC, Marquette standing 2-0 in Brew Town - prevail?

Can Marquette, a conference school pulling in 10,264 fans per game (second in the league) power to victory, overcoming two consecutive losses, their standing as the worst BIG East scoring team (67.1 ppg), yet giving up on average less points each contest than G'Town ( 63.4 to 64.5) owning a sixth best league mark, take out the hot Hoyas?

We shall see.