March 9, 2006
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NEW YORK (AP) - Brandon Bowman went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to help No. 23 Georgetown hold off Marquette 62-59 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
Steve Novak hit his sixth 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left to bring Marquette within 60-59. But Bowman restored the three-point lead with two free throws with 5.1 seconds left. Jerel McNeal missed a 30-footer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
Georgetown (21-8) will face Syracuse on Friday night in the semifinals. Syracuse shocked top-ranked Connecticut 86-84 in overtime earlier Thursday. It will be the 12th time the schools have met in the tournament, with Georgetown leading 6-5. Five of the meetings came in championship games, with Georgetown winning four.
Georgetown led Marquette 49-48 with 5 minutes left before using a 9-2 run to take a 58-50 advantage with 37.7 seconds remaining. Bowman, who finished with 14 points, scored six during that stretch.
Marquette (20-10) then scored the next six points, capped by Dominic Jones' layup with 12.9 seconds left to close to 58-56. Jones, who was the conference's freshman of the year, was 2-of-15 from the field.
Bowman then ended the run with two free throws with 11.5 seconds left before Novak's last 3-pointer.
It was the second straight day that Bowman came up big for the Hoyas. He hit the key basket on a driving layup in the Hoyas' 67-63 opening round win over Notre Dame.
Jeff Green had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead Georgetown. Ashanti Cook added 16 points.
Novak finished with 18 points and Wesley Matthews scored 14 points for Marquette, which had a first-round bye.
For the second straight game, Georgetown got off to a slow start. The Hoyas, who missed their first 12 shots on Wednesday, found themselves down 20-9 with 9:03 left in the first half. Georgetown closed the half on a 13-2 run to go into the break tied at 22.
Georgetown, which led the conference in field goal percentage at 47.6, struggled again from the field. A day after shooting 41.4 percent (24-for-58) against the Irish, the Hoyas shot 41.2 against Marquette. Georgetown made two of 10 3-pointers.
Marquette beat then-No. 17 Georgetown 57-51 on Feb. 16 in the only game between the teams this season.
Marquette was one of three former Conference USA teams playing in the Big East tournament in their first season in the league, along with Louisville and Cincinnati. DePaul and South Florida didn't qualify.
