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Game 13 - Georgetown (7-5) @ #6 Marquette (9-3)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: December 22, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, WI
How to Watch: FS1
Matchup History: Marquette leads all-time series 20-13
Last Meeting: Marquette def. Georgetown 89-75 on 2/11/23
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Georgetown +18.5
Over/Under: 151.5
Prediction: Georgetown 68, Marquette 90
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Head Coach: Ed Cooley (1st season, 7-5 record at Georgetown)
Record: 7-5 (0-1, T-7th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Lost @ Butler 74-64 on 12/19/23
Player to Watch: Dontrez Styles
Georgetown has lost 40 of its last 42 Big East games.
The Hoyas traveled to Indianapolis on Tuesday to Hinkle Fieldhouse, where they secured one of their two conference wins from all of last season against Butler.
This time, however, Butler Head Coach Thad Matta had his team prepared as the Bulldogs took down the Hoyas 74-64 thanks in large part to a 40 point first half from Butler.
The Bulldogs finished the first half on a 13-2 run and they never looked back. All eight players who touched the floor for Butler scored, including four starters who finished in double figures.
It was a tough night for Ed Cooley’s squad, which shot just 38% from the field, was out-rebounded, had less assists, less steals, and committed more fouls than Matta’s team.
"The better team won today,” Cooley said following the game. “We were not the team I expected to show up. We have to be a lot better guarding the ball one-on-one. We have to be a lot better physically on the ball, and that's what they did well. They drove the ball. They did what they do."
Of course, in the Big East, there’s no time to let the losses linger. Georgetown stays on the road for its second conference game as the Hoyas take on #6 ranked Marquette in Milwaukee.
Marquette is coming off a disappointing loss on Tuesday in Providence.
Georgetown’s Dontrez Styles was about the only bright spot offensively on Tuesday, finishing with 19 points on 8-14 shooting.
Jayden Epps, the team's leading scorer who has missed the past two games, came off the bench and scored 12, but shot just 3-10 from the floor and 1-4 from deep.
The Hoyas need to get Epps fully healthy and ready to go if they want to have a chance against Marquette on Friday.
If the same Georgetown team that showed up in Indy shows up in Milwaukee, it’s going to be a very long night for the Hoyas.
Head Coach: Shaka Smart (3rd season, 57-23 record at Marquette)
Record: 9-3 (0-1, T-7th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Lost @ Providence 72-57 on 12/19/23
Player to Watch: Tyler Kolek
For whatever reason, the Marquette Golden Eagles cannot win in Providence.
Shaka Smart’s team lost its fifth straight game in Providence on Tuesday to open up Big East conference play, a 72-57 shellacking that wasn’t that close.
Providence’s Devin Carter scored 22 points and knocked down five three’s in the route. The Golden Eagles shot just 32% from the field and an abysmal 20% from three.
Marquette now returns home for the first conference game in front of the Fiserv Forum crowd, a fortress where they have not lost this season. In fact, MU hasn’t lost at home in over a year and hasn’t lost a home conference game since Creighton beat them on New Year's Day 2022 in 2OT.
All to say, Smart has completely revived this program. In the two seasons before his arrival, Marquette failed to win 20 games and missed the NCAA Tournament back-to-back years, leading to the firing of Steve Wojciechowski after a 13-14 campaign.
This past year, MU won 29 games, the most in school history, and earned a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately, Marquette failed to make it out of the opening weekend, but was able to win its first NCAA Tournament game since Buzz Williams took the team to the Elite 8 in 2013.
This year, the Golden Eagles have the team to win a national championship.
Tyler Kolek is running the point and is the reigning conference player of the year. He’s currently scoring 15.5 PPG, bringing in 5.3 RPG, and dishing out 5.8 APG, which is tied for 22nd nationally.
Besides Kolek, MU returns the prolific scorer Kam Jones and the emerging big man Oso Ighodaro, who took a huge step forward last season and is taking yet another big step to start his senior year.
Marquette has elite athleticism and an experienced team that won both the Big East regular season and tournament last year.
The question is, can they perform in the Big Dance and get back to the Final Four for the first time since Dwayne Wade took them in 2003?