BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Georgetown @ Marquette

February 16, 2006

Georgetown, with an 8-3 conference record, looks to keep pace with Pittsburgh in the race for one of the four byes in the Big East Conference Tournament when they travel to Milwaukee tonight to face the Golden Eagles of Marquette. Marquette has dropped two in a row on the road and now return home to meet the Hoyas tonight and Pittsburgh on Saturday as they look to claw their way back into the mix for the 4th seed and a bye in the tournament. They will have to take advantage of the home court and make their move.

Here are the pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

Hoyas face Challenging Road (Washington Times)
For Hoyas, Tough Road Test (Washington Post)
Eagles Facing Key Tests (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)


To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!

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Marquette enters tonight's contest against Georgetown as 1-pt favorites. The Golden Eagles will be without Jamil Lott and, most likely, Mike Kinsella, which depletes their frontcourt depth a little bit. However, they still have Ousmane Barro, Chris Grimm and Ryan Amoroso to rotate in the post with Steve Novak playing another forward spot. They still have the very quick and athletic freshmen trio of Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Mathews in their 3-guard line-up and depth with senior Joe Chapman and sophomore Dan Fitzgerald backing them up. With nine player available, they still are likely to be deeper than Georgetown, who seems to be most comfortable with a six-man rotation, featuring Roy Hibbert in the post and Brandon Bowman and Jeff Green at the forwards with Ashanti Cook and Jonathan Wallace at the guards and Darell Owens providing the offensive spark off the bench. Jesse Sapp is a freshmen guard that sees some time as well.

This is definitely a tale of two different styles. Marquette likes to play fast and in the open court. The like to spread the floor and will have at least four players on the court with the ability to play on the perimeter at all times, creating space for Dominic James, the likely freshmen of the year in the conference, to penetrate into th elane to create offense. Jerel McNeal also uses the spacing to slash to the basket and if anyone helps inside, Steve Novak is there to bury a 3-pter.

Georgetown is a much more patient team. They will run a version of the Princeton offense that has a lot of movement and motion, looking for mis-matches, back-door cuts and open jumpers. The Hoyas can also go with a smaller look and have four or five guys on the floor capable of hitting the perimeter shot and isolating a bigger man on Jeff Green and run the offense through him. On defense, they have unleashed a match-up zone that has been hard to crack with their front-line that features players that size up at 6'8, 6'9 and 7'2. Georgetown is a very tough team to play.

Marquette has found themselves in the toughest stretch of the season, losing three of four and now having to face Georgetown and Pittsburgh in the course of 24 hours. Both teams play a style and have the size that will make it very difficult for Marquette. The Golden Eagles are going to have to push tempo and get this game played in an open atmopshere. Their youth could be prone to turnovers and poor shots if frustrated by the Georgetown style.

The Hoyas will have to deal with the Marquette pressure on the guards. Georgetown could be susceptible to some of the quickness of the Eagles' guards as they will look to get them out of their offense and comfort zone.

This is certainly a tough game to call. Both teams desperately need this game, Georgetown to maintain their hold on a top four conference spot and Marquette to keep their spot on the right side of the bubble for the NCAA Tournament and, make their push for a bye themselves. They need to rebound from the Rutgers loss and do it quickly.

Marquette has to shore up their defense and do it quickly. The Georgetown offense can expose any defensive weakness as they are extremely effecient and on the defensive side, they are the tops in the conference. To me, this is a nightmare match-up for Marquette and defense will win this game. I do think Steve Novak will have a big game and keep Marquette right in it, but the changing defenses of Georgetown could turn Marquette over in key spots.

It is going to be a tough, tough game. Defense and experience will win this one down the stretch.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 73 Marquette 71