Hoyas tumble at Marquette

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No. 12 Georgetown Falls to Marquette in BIG EAST Regular Season Finale, 83-69

WASHINGTON - Georgetown freshman Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) scored a career-high 19 points and the 12th-ranked Hoyas cut an 18-point second half lead to nine points late in the game, but it wasn't enough as Marquette beat the Hoyas 83-69 in a BIG EAST Conference men's basketball game in front of 19,087 fans at the Bradley Center Saturday afternoon.

The loss closes out the 2011-12 regular season for Georgetown with a 22-7 overall record and a 12-6 record in the BIG EAST, finishing in fifth place overall and earning a first round bye in next week's BIG EAST Tournament. Marquette improves to 25-6 overall and 14-4 in league play.

Porter connected on 9-of-11 shots from the field for 19 points to go with four rebounds, while junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) scored 15 points and had six rebounds while tying a career-high with four assists. Senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) scored five points, had nine rebounds and two assists before fouling out, while senior Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./O'Connell) chipped in nine points and three rebounds.

The Hoyas shot only 38.9 percent from the floor and hit only 52.2 percent of their free throws (12-of-23).

Trailing by 10 points at the half, Georgetown was out-scored by Marquette 9-2 over the first 2:02 of the second half and took a 48-31 lead on a dunk from Jamil Wilson.

Georgetown responded with an 8-1 run and cut the lead to 49-39 on a three-point play from Porter with 16 minutes left in the game. Another basket from Porter cut the lead to 51-43 with 14:36 left in the game, but Marquette went to the line on the next five possessions and hit 7-of-8 free throws, with one shot from Darius Johnson-Odom making it 58-45.

The Hoyas cut the lead to eight points, 71-63, with 3:45 left after baskets from Clark and a three-pointer from Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep), but Marquette pushed the lead back to 13 points, 78-65, after free throws from Jae Crowder.

The Hoyas trailed by 10 points, 39-29, at the half, after hitting only 33.3 percent of their field goals (10-of-30) in the first half, including the final eight minutes when they were only 2-of-10 from the floor. Marquette had jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead after a three-point play from Crowder and a layup from Vander Blue, but an 11-2 run over 2:34 gave the Hoyas a 12-9 lead on a dunk from Sims.

A jumper from Thompson gave Georgetown a 14-13 lead with 12:34 to play in the half, but a 7-0 spurt gave Marquette a 20-14 lead on a Johnson-Odom layup. The lead was only three points, 23-20, after Thompson hit a pair of free throws with 8:17 to play, but baskets from Davante Gardner pushed the lead to seven points, 33-26. A jumper from Clark made it 33-28 and Marquette used a 6-1 spurt over the final 2:04 to take a 10-point halftime lead.

Georgetown is back in action this weekend at the BIG EAST Tournament, being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.