A dynamic duo comes to rescue
Rowsey, Hauser carry the load for Eagles
WASHINGTON - Marquette’s 90-86 overtime victory over Georgetown on Monday was a microcosm of the Golden Eagles’ season.
There were brilliant displays of offen- sive basketball at Capital One Arena followed by stretches of defensive mistakes, turnovers and forced shots.
And, above all, there was incredible shooting.
Senior guard Andrew Rowsey scored 28 points, including the final nine points in overtime for MU (17-12, 8-9 Big East).
Sophomore wing Sam Hauser also had 28. He was his usual efficient self with 10-of-14 shooting, including 7 of 8 three-pointers.
“I know people go to the Internet now when they’re looking up a word,” MU coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “But when go to an old-fashioned dictionary,
when you look up the word ‘winner,’ I think you’d find a picture of Sam Hauser in there.”
Hauser sank a jumper from the left corner with 4 seconds left in regulation to give MU a 78-76 lead.
But Georgetown (15-13, 5-12) got the ball quickly to senior guard Jonathan Mulmore, who raced down the court unimpeded for a layup up at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
The Hoyas scored the first four points of overtime before MU sophomore guard Markus Howard hit a three.
Then Rowsey took over in front of a large contingent of family and friends that made the trip from his hometown of Lexington, Va.
He hit a three-pointer, two free throws and then a mid-range jumper that gave MU the lead for good at 88-86 with 34 seconds left. He then sank two more free throws to seal the victory.
“It was just my time tonight,” Rowsey said. “I just felt it clicking and I just let the game come to me and let my instincts kick in.”
Wojciechowski thought that the biggest shot that Rowsey hit in the game came at the buzzer before halftime.
MU junior center Matt Heldt got a rebound with six seconds remaining and kicked it ahead to Rowsey, who raced down and hit a three that cut Georgetown’s lead to 46-40 at the break.
“Being down nine is much different than being down six,” Wojciechowski said. “It gave us a little bit of momentum entering halftime.
“There’s no question when you make shots at the end of game, they’re huge. But the shot at the end of the half was equally huge.”
MU’s first half was full of the inconsistencies that have plagued them all season.
The Golden Eagles started hot, scoring the game’s first seven points and eventually taking a 27-17 lead at the 10:41 mark.
Hauser had 14 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting.
“(My shot) felt as good as any other night,” Hauser said. “Just tonight they all fell.”
Most of Hauser’s damage came on pick-and-pop actions that forced Georgetown’s defense to make quick decisions.
“Slipping ball screens, they got a little screwed up with it at times and left me wide open,” Hauser said. “And if it didn’t leave me wide open, it opened up for the guy who had the ball. Just trying to get involved in that as much as I could.”
The Hoyas roared back with a 15-1 run and took their biggest lead at 43-31 with 2:08 left in the half.
Rowsey then had 3 three-pointers in the final 2:00.
The Golden Eagles even got a lift in the second half from sophomore center Harry Froling, who Wojciechowski kept on the bench the previous two games.
Forced to play because of foul trouble, Froling entered in the second half and gave MU life with 2 three-pointers in a one-minute span.
“When I put him in and he was going on the court, I said ‘Harry, you’re going to be open. And if you’re open, just please shoot the ball,’” Wojciechowski said. “Fortunately he did and made them and those two threes were a big shot in the arm for our team.”
MU finished the game 18 of 31 on threepointers. That helped the Golden Eagles overcome 14 turnovers and 26 points in the paint by Georgetown.