Marquette vs. Georgetown analysis: The Hoyas' Crossover Examination

Georgetown's win against Marquette was not done in the fashion they would have liked, but when the dust settled, their victory propelled them their eighth win in Washington, D.C. this season.

The game was close the entire way until D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera got hot towards the end of the game to help the Hoyas seal a 65-79 win over the Golden Eagles, who played really well on both sides of the ball.

Georgetown's defense was not the key throughout, as they kept reading and reacting instead of getting to the spots they needed to be. This allowed for Marquette's offense to open up, and the Golden Eagles were able to make shots from the perimeter. Much to MU's chagrin however, the Hoya defense tightened up as time wore on, and it became increasingly difficult for them to get good looks and great attempts off.

Marquette did a good job of defending Georgetown's offense. The theme was slowing them down, as they did not get a lot of transition buckets and they had to score in the half court. This is something that the players seemed like they are starting to get used to, because in a conference like this, every game is tough.

Let's take a look at some of the observations I made while watching this game.

Georgetown individual player observations

• D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera does not allow his bad play to affect him when his team needs him down the stretch.
• Watching Joshua Smith, foul trouble is starting to become less of an issue. He's still very much a player that needs to be on the floor often.
• L.J. Peak had an offensive rating of 121, a team-best against Marquette, and dominated the middle of the paint when he was penetrating to get to the basket.
• Aaron Bowen's production has been slow of late, and that needs to pick up. Teams are starting to focus in on him, so John Thompson III and Bowen himself will have to be creative in getting him involved.
• Smith-Rivera went to the line a lot down the stretch, and was 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
• Smith had problems containing Luke Fischer at times down on the block, as he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field.

Georgetown team observations

• Georgetown went to the free throw line 28 times and only missed five times, the most they have been to the line all season.
• Georgetown scored 1.06 points per possession. The offense was really stagnant at some points in the game.
• The Hoya defense limited Marquette's FTRate, as they only got to the line 12 times on the night.
• The ball was distributed really well and it was a balanced scoring attack from the players, who played a majority of the minutes.
• Georgetown has to limit the perimeter shots when they're not falling because it seems that they continue to shoot when it is nothing going for them. They were 4-for-18 from behind the arc.

Overall, Georgetown played an okay game because they have not reached the standards they want to be. The Hoyas almost let Marquette back in at the end, giving Hoyas fans the longest 30 seconds that anyone can imagine. They have to do a better job at pushing the ball out at times, because the team is not always going to be able to score in the half court set. Also being tough is one thing that they did really well and Joshua Smith did good at contributing in the second half down on the block and passing when he is getting trapped.