Marquette Golden Eagles at Georgetown Hoyas, Verizon Center, Washington, DC
Sunday, February 13, 2011, 1:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Georgetown -6
Current Line: Georgetown -6
Opening Total: 147.5
Current Total: 145.5
Money Line: Georgetown -260 / Marquette +220
The 11th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas (19-5, 8-4 Big East) will look to continue their surge by winning their eighth straight game when they host the Marquette Golden Eagles (15-9, 6-5) on Sunday. The Hoyas (-6) are the hottest team in the conference right now following a 1-4 start in league play, but they have dropped three of their last four meetings with Marquette.
The Golden Eagles have played fairly well on the road against Big East opponents this season besides a 59-58 win at South Florida on Wednesday. They trailed the Bulls 44-28 with a little under 15 minutes remaining but rallied back behind the strong play of Jae Crowder, who scored a team-high 14 points, making 4 of 5 attempts from 3-point range. Crowder’s last 3-pointer with 1:26 left gave Marquette a 59-55 lead, which enabled the team to hold on for the victory.
The team failed to cover the 6-point spread but had gone 4-1 vs. the line in its previous five conference road games before beating South Florida. The Golden Eagles suffered an 80-57 loss to Georgetown in last year’s Big East tournament but had won the previous three meetings both straight-up and against the spread. The OVER is 5-1 in the past six meetings.
The Hoyas have tightened up their defense though during the winning streak, with the UNDER cashing in four of their last five games. They are holding opponents to an average of less than 65 points in their last seven games, and only two of them have totaled more than 66 during that stretch.
Georgetown is coming off a 64-56 victory at Syracuse on Wednesday, winning in the Carrier Dome for the first time since 2002. The Hoyas finished the game on a 12-1 run, starting with a 3-pointer by Hollis Thompson that tied the game at 55. Thompson scored 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting, making all three of his 3-point attempts. Austin Freeman led the team with 14 points on 6 of 15 shooting and has averaged 21 points during the winning streak.
The win over the Orange was Georgetown’s biggest margin of victory in four games, as the team’s previous three games were all decided by three points or less. The Hoyas have outrebounded four of their last five opponents, which should give them an edge over a Marquette team that has been outrebounded in four of five. The team that has held a rebounding advantage has won the last seven meetings in the series.
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