Eagles never in rhythm
The Marquette Golden Eagles just could never get in sync on Saturday afternoon.
Foul trouble left MU disjointed from the start in a 73-66 loss to Georgia at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski switched up the starting backcourt, inserting freshman Greg Elliott for senior Andrew Rowsey.
“There’s an old adage in basketball, ‘You play like you practice,’ " Wojciechowski said. "Andrew’s been a terrific player for us in this early season. He’s got a very important and prominent role. And with that comes responsibility.”
But Rowsey was forced to check into the game in the first minute after Markus Howard picked up two fouls in 44 seconds.
Howard didn't come back in until the 6:45 mark of the first half.
“First and foremost, I have to be smarter. I let my team down in that aspect, just not being on the court,” Howard said. “First minute in the game, I can’t let that happen. That’s on me.”
Rowsey missed his first seven shots before a Georgia defender was called for goal-tending on Rowsey's layup.
Howard picked up his third foul 42 seconds before halftime. Freshman big man Theo John also had three fouls in the first half for Golden Eagles (5-3). Freshman Jamal Cain had two.
Howard started the second half on the bench, and MU's offense was stagnant. The Golden Eagles suffered a 2:45 scoreless streak and trailed, 4136, before the guard checked in at the 13:10 mark.
Howard immediately helped MU get back into the game. His jumper with 6:32 left i gave the Golden Eagles a 55-53 lead.
Georgia snatched the lead just over a minute later and never gave it back.
Preseason Southeastern Conference co-player of the year Yante Maten led the Bulldogs (6-1) with 13 points and also added seven rebounds. His three-point play with 1:03 remaining gave the Bulldogs a 66-61 lead.
"We had some guys that really battled," Wojciechowski said. "Maten is a guy if you don't really battle, he could have 30 and 20 and (he's) had that before in college."
Howard finished with 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting in just 20 minutes. He took 16 of the Golden Eagles' 29 shots in the second half.
Howard and Rowsey combined for 44 of MU's 66 points.
“Me and Rowsey, we have to make sure (the offense) is spreading out evenly,” Howard. “We have to make sure we have a good flow in the offense. Some nights it happens, some nights it doesn’t.”
Rowsey never found a rhythm and shot 4 of 15. He also had six turnovers. The guard has five games with four or more turnovers this season.
Wojciechowski has been trying to correct the issue.
“I think we watch tape, we talk about it in practice," the coach said. "We harp on it a lot, and we just got to keep working on it.”