Saturday, March 9, 2019 02:30 PM (ET)

Akinjo, Georgetown hand No. 16 Marquette narrow loss

Field Level Media
Mar 9, 2019

James Akinjo racked up 25 points, five rebounds and five assists and Georgetown denied Marquette a share of the Big East title with an 86-84 win in Milwaukee on Saturday.

The 16th-ranked Eagles (23-8 overall, 12-6 Big East) could have pulled even with Villanova after the Wildcats lost to Seton Hall earlier in the afternoon. But they instead dropped their fourth straight heading into the conference tournament.

Mac McClung supplied 23 points for the Hoyas (19-12, 9-9), while Jessie Govan and Jamorko Pickett had 10 points apiece.

Markus Howard's 28 points led Marquette. Joey Hauser had 16 points, Sacar Anim added 12 and Brendan Bailey tossed in 11.

Georgetown shot 45.1 percent from the field and held the Golden Eagles to 34.3 percent shooting.

Sam Hauser made a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer, giving Marquette a 39-37 lead. The Golden Eagles shot just 32.5 percent in the first 20 minutes, but they had a 16-4 advantage in points in the paint and committed just two turnovers.

Howard had 11 points before the break, while McClung carried the Hoyas with 14 points.

Georgetown scored 10 unanswered points to take a 49-46 lead early in the second half. Akinjo and Govan capped the spurt with 3-pointers.

Marquette roared back with 11 straight points. Bailey finished off that run with a pair of 3-pointers.

The Hoyas chipped away and tied it with 8:37 left on an Akinjo 3-pointer.

Akinjo free throws with 6:49 remaining gave Georgetown a 68-67 edge.

McClung made two free throws with 4:09 left to nudge the Hoyas' lead to five.

The Golden Eagles pulled even with 2:30 left on Sam Hauser free throws but Akinjo responded with a layup.

Pickett's three with 1:22 remaining gave the Hoyas a five-point lead.

Hauser's three with 46 seconds left pulled Marquette within two points, but Akinjo drained two free throws with 10 seconds left to give Georgetown a four-point lead.

Howard hit a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining. Pickett split free throws and the buzzer sounded during a scramble for the rebound.

--Field Level Media

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