WASHINGTON –  The Georgetown University men's basketball team couldn't contain the Marquette University Golden Eagles, dropping a 76-60 decision at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. With the setback, the Hoyas stand at 13-15 on the season with a 5-12 record in BIG EAST play while the Golden Eagles improve to 10-18 with a 5-12 record in league action.
 
ON THE RECORD
"In these BIG EAST games in the dog days of February, teams that want it the most are winning, and right now it's very disappointing, as we're not playing the way we should be playing at home. But, you know, we'll move on and prepare for Xavier. It's a lot of frustration around, you know, just around Hoya Nation. As part of what we do, we'll rise above it, and we'll prepare for the next game." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Vince Iwuchukwu and Isaiah Abraham came off the bench as the lone Hoyas in double figures with 19 and 13, respectively. Iwuchukwu tied his career-best 19 on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting night to go along with a perfect 3-for-3 performance at the charity stripe.
• Abraham managed 13 off the bench on 44.4% (4-9) shooting from the floor, including a 2-for-5 performance from beyond the arc.
• Iwuchukwu led the Hoyas on the glass with seven rebounds, followed by Abraham, Julius Halaifonua and Caleb Williams all grabbing six apiece.
• Malik Mack dished out a squad-best five assists to pace the offense.
• For the game, Georgetown shot 37.7% (23-61).
• The Blue & Gray held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding Marquette 41-31.

 
GOLDEN EAGLE HIGHLIGHTS

• Nigel James Jr. led a quintet of Golden Eagles in scoring with 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting, followed by Adrien Stevens (16), Chase Ross (14), Damarius Owens (11) and Ben Gold (10).
• Gold pulled down a game-high 12 boards for the double-double.
• James Jr. paced the offense with six helpers while also tallying a squad-best three steals along with Stevens, who also managed a trio of steals.
• Marquette shot 50.8% (31-61) for the game, including 33.3% (8-24) from deep.
• They forced 15 GU turnovers on 11 steals.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgetown got off to a hot start, tallying the first points on the board with a trio of buckets, one apiece from KJ Lewis, Julius Halaifonua and Iwuchukwu putting the Hoyas up 6-2 early. Even as Marquette found answers on the other end, the Hoyas maintained distance as Abraham strung together five on his own with a pair of free throws followed by a 3-pointer giving the Blue & Gray a five-point cushion (16-9, 14:03).
• The Golden Eagles wouldn't go away, pushing to a one-possession game, but each time the Hoyas would find a response to keep the visitors at bay. A driving Caleb Williams layup pushed the lead back to six (24-18), but a 15-3 MU run swung the momentum in favor of Marquette.
• The Hoyas would trail by as many as nine (40-31), but the squad closed on a pair of buckets - a driving layup from Mack and an Iwuchukwu dunk - to head into the locker room with Marquette holding the 40-35 advantage.
• Out of the break, a Jeremiah Williams triple made it a one-possession game early but a quick five for the Golden Eagles pushed the deficit back to seven (45-38). Marquette pulled ahead by as many as 13 early before the Hoyas put together six in a row sparked by an Iwuchukwu dunk, followed by an Abraham layup and a Mack driving layup to cut it to seven (55-48, 12:54).
• MU came up with the layup on the other end but an Abraham trey on the Mack dish made it a two-possession game with 11:30 on the clock. However, that's as close as the Hoyas would get as Marquette sealed the 76-60 victory.

 
OF NOTE

• Iwuchukwu tied his career-best points with 19 points. He previously achieved this feat on February 11, 2023 against Oregon State.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown returns to action on Saturday, February 28, when taking on the Xavier Musketeers at Cintas Center. Tipoff in Cincinnati, Ohio is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on TNT and truTV with J.B. Long calling the play-by-play, Chris Spatola providing analysis and Jared Greenberg reporting from the sidelines. The game can be heard locally on Team 980 as well as on the SiriusXM app with Rich Chvotkin, in his 52nd season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.