Eagles stage an improbable comeback

It looked like rock bottom for Marquette.

The Golden Eagles were on a threegame losing streak and then played a dreadful first half against Georgetown on Saturday.

But MU turned it around after halftime and scored a wild, 64-60 comeback victory at McDonough Arena in Washington.

The Golden Eagles (6-5, 2-3 Big East) ended the game on a 22-6 run against the Hoyas (3-6, 1-4).

Senior forward Jamal Cain led MU with a collegiate-high 25 points.

Both teams were coming off nineday breaks. The Hoyas definitely came out rusty, committing five turnovers in the first three-plus minutes.

The Golden Eagles took advantage of that sloppiness to forge a 9-4 lead. But MU fell into a shooting funk and Georgetown ripped off an 14-0 run.

The Golden Eagles went more than six minutes without a point, missing 11 straight shots. Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski called a timeout after Georgetown’s Jahvon Blair nailed a jumper for an 18-9 lead.

MU freshman Justin Lewis finally broke the drought by tapping in a miss from center Theo John.

The Hoyas went up, 21-11, before MU’s Greg Elliott nailed a three-pointer with 6:47 remaining in the half.

The Golden Eagles started the game shooting 4 for 8 before falling into a 2 for 18 funk.

MU finally made back-to-back shots to get the deficit down to 25-18. But Georgetown hit a three-pointer and then hit two free throws after Elliott was assessed a technical foul after arguing with an official and got a dunk from center Qudus Wahab to push the lead to 32-19.

The advantage expanded to 36-20 when Blair hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in the first half and Lewis couldn’t convert a shot around the basket.

MU shot 8 for 31, including 2 for 11 on three-pointers, with eight turnovers in the first half. The 20 points were the lowest the Golden Eagles have scored in a half this season.

The Hoyas scored the first basket of the second half, but MU hit back with layups by D.J. Carton and Jamal Cain to cause Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing to call a timeout.

An alley-oop dunk by Cain got the lead down to 39-28 as MU made four of its first five shots of the second half. But

the Golden Eagles couldn't capitalize on a couple of chances to get within single digits and Blair hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding for Georgetown.

After two straight baskets by MU, Blair was fouled by McEwen on a threepoint attempt and sank all three free throws for a 47-34 lead. That was McEwen's third foul and he took a seat on the bench.

Cain answered with a three-pointer, but timeout was called when Carton suffered a cramp. He didn't return until the final minute.

MU had a tough time getting the deficit below 10 points. Georgetown pushed the lead up to 15 again before Cain hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 52-42. Blair then hit a tough jumper, and Cain scored on a driving layup.

Finally, after a Georgetown turnover, Cain hit a layup while getting fouled. He sank the free throw to make it 54-47. Lewis added a tough layup to make it a 7-0 run.

A free throw from Elliott made it 5653 with just over five minutes remaining, and a layup from Lewis got MU within one point.

The Golden Eagles grabbed the lead on two free throws by Garcia with 3:19 remaining.

Garcia added a runner to extend MU's run to 17-2.

Georgetown grabbed the lead back with a layup by Dante Harris and a dunk by Wahab.

MU called timeout with 1:09 remaining. Carton checked back into the game and hit a running shot for a 61-60 lead.

On the next MU possession, Carton then found Cain for a three-pointer to seal the comeback victory.

MARQUETTE ATHLETICS Marquette guard Koby McEwen drives for a layup in the first half against Georgetown. McEwen was hampered by foul trouble and had just six points.