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The chant “We want ‘Cuse!” resonated through Madison Square Garden at the final second ticked off the clock in Georgetowns 62-59 victory over Marquette in the Big East quarterfinals this afternoon. The Hoyas fans will get what they want, as far as the matchup is concerned.
The Hoyas again started the game sluggish. Marquette scored 8 points before Georgetown was able to put the ball in the hole. For the second consecutive game the Hoyas shot under 40% first half. Poor shooting is something Coach Thompson is going to have to rectify before Friday evenings game against Syracuse. The positive, if there is one with poor shooting is that the Hoyas don’t take bad shots. If the shots fall Syracuse will not be able to hang with Georgetown. The combination of hot shooting and the signature tough defense Georgetown plays should catapult them into the finals on Saturday night.
Marquette’s Steve Novak scored a game high 18 points that, included 66% from beyond the arc. His effort kept the Golden Eagles in the game. When he fouled out in with under 2 minutes remaining and his team desperate for three’s the Eagle bench seemed deflated.
Georgetown’s Ashanti Cook and Jeff Green each scored 16 points respectively with Brandon Bowman adding 14 of his own. One can only wonder how different the game would have been if Roy Hibbert was able to contribute more than 2 points and 3 rebounds. Fans have seen only glimpses of what could be if Hibbert were to contribute a bit more.
The Hoyas will play tomorrow night at 7pm in the semifinals against Syracuse. The Syracuse vs. UConn game happened to be the more exciting of the matinee contests. Syracuse pulled off the upset with a 86-84 overtime victory. The “overrated” Gerry McNamara carried the Orange with his timely play. For the second day in a row, he found himself open to hit a three pointer at the end of regulation and delivered. The shot yesterday was for the win, the shot today sent the contest to overtime. McNamara, 17 points, came up big in the overtime period with clutch shooting and a steal of an inbound pass in the waning seconds of overtime. While he ended up turning the ball over, the damage was done. Precious time had run off the clock while UConn was running back downcourt to play defense.
With the first seminfinal set, it would appear that the Big East looks like the Big East of old. All that’s needed is for Villanova and Pitt win their games in the nightcap to send us back to the good old days. Georgetown has done their part. Along with winning, their coach has a familiar name, John Thompson. Hey, maybe we will get throwback uniforms if G’Town and Nova play on Saturday.
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