"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Hoyas end MU's 8 game winning streak

Georgetown celebrated 100 years of basketball today by beating MU 76 to 58 in a game that was actually closer than the final score would appear. #23 Georgetown won their 7th in a row while MU's winning streak of eight straight came to an end.

Next up for Marquette is a road game against DePaul on Wednesday.

As expected, Georgetown's big men of Hibbert and Green had their way with Marquette for most of the game. The Hoyas jumped out to a 16-6 lead but MU fought their way back to take the lead 26-25 late in the second half before a final Georgetown run put the Hoyas up 28-26 at the break.

In the second half, Georgetown opened up their lead again on the outside shooting of Green and Sapp coupled with the inside play of Hibbert. The Hoyas led by eight points at the 11:35 mark before a Barro layup sparked a MU rally.

At the 7:29 mark, a Jerel McNeal three pointer pulled MU to within one point at 53-52. It was the closest MU would come. Georgetown finished with a 23-6 run in the last 7 minutes to blow the game open.

The big three for Marquette struggled immensely. Jerel McNeal had three fouls in the first half and zero points, but did add 11 points in the second half. Dominic James had 4 first half points and none in the second half on another forgettable shooting performance (2 of 17). James has struggled mightily from the field the last few games. Wes Matthews was a very quiet 1 of 3 for 2 points.

In a bit of irony, the big men carried MU largely today. Barro had another double-double and led the team with 14 points. Lazar Hayward also had 14 points. Dan Fitzgerald added 7 points.

The loss drops MU to 3rd place in the Big East. Next up for MU --- a road game at DePaul on Wednesday night.

MEDIA UPDATE

AP Recap

Boxscore

Rosiak on the loss.

John Keegan of the MU Tribune basketball blog
.

Rosiak blogs on the loss here.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

what is with DJ's shot selection? He is pressing too hard. Gtown set the pace and that was that but maybe this means he stays put for another year, his stock is falling in my opinion, no shot, and lately doesn't come up big in close games or take over down the stretch.

Anonymous said...

Any idea why Matthews didn't play much today? Seemed like he sat most of the 2nd half.

Anonymous said...

I miss Diener!

Anonymous said...

i think the last three games tell us many things about d-james. he lacks, in my opinion, mental toughness when his shot isn't falling. when he is confident, he's really confident, but when's he not, he's really not. i question whether he knows how to get back on track. today was a glaring indication that he is concerned with the way he is playing and as a result you see the deep threes early in the possession or the forced drive in transition when the numbers weren't in his favor. james needs to make more happen with his brains before he can make it happen with his shot. i was surprised that crean had him in over wes, who is probably the most intelligent about the game on the team. also, props to lazar who finally looks to be the confident scorer he was touted to be. if he can continue to produce like he did today it'll be a much needed lift for our offense.

Anonymous said...

they said on the radio wes had the flu??? Homer wasn't sure but that is what he reported.nhoyhkx

Anonymous said...

McNeal has been a better player than James all season. He CONSISTENTLY contributes every night, even if he only plays half the game due to foul trouble. I still love James though, but he needs to get his rhythm back and stop losing it, or else MU will lose more games.

Tom Crean...1) Needs a hair cut 2) Should have been rockin' the white sneakers, and 3) May love his fast guards, but he NEEDS to invest in a quality big man. Not just a role playing big man, not just 6'7" fellas like the ones coming in next year, but some 7'+ monsters.

Nonetheless, I trust James will recover from his slump soon, probably as soon as DePaul since this lost is a wake-up call.

Anonymous said...

apparently the white sneakers were not a requisite for increasing awareness for cancer research and crean and staff wore black sneakers instead...

Gene Frenkle said...

Couple comments:
REgarding the big man need - EVERY program in the country is in need of or in search of a quality 7 footer, but they don't grow on trees, especially quality ones (see Kinsella).

This game from James surprised me. Yeah, he didn't shoot worth a darn vs. Rutgers, but he did have 7 assists and no turnovers. YOu can't ask for more from your floor general. G-town? He made questionable selections of shots, especially down the stretch. Just a horrific game and we need him to come back strong.

Rosiak said that Wes was sick with the flu and puked in the first half so that would explain his absence.

Coming from a guy who has been all over McNeal, I've become a huge, huge fan of his. This was a rare game where he got into foul trouble and w/out him on the floor the team really struggles.

ON the bright side, MU hung w/G-town until that 23-6 run to end the game...and that was practically without anything from their top two players. That, to me, is the bright side of the game. Let's see if they can take down DePaul. Then, they close the season w/home games vs. Louisville, 'Nova and Pitt. Should be a fun time. And that ND road game scares the hell out of me too.

Anonymous said...

Crean and his staff wore black sneakers per Todd Rosiak's blog.

If the NABC wanted coaches to wear white sneakers or pink sneakers or green sneakers, then they should say so.

hoopgeek said...

What did wearing ANY color sneakers accomplish if we don't hear about until after the game?

Why is there NO local TV package for MU non-network road games? Ch.41 carries a couple ESPNU games but what about the others?

DJ will heat up as draft day draws nearer.
If DJ doesn't leave, who will?

Anonymous said...

if DJ doesn't leave look to LTB to leave, or Hazel wearing the redshirt while he "learns the system and focuses on academics" or a surprise... since we seem to lose em on a regular basis.