Georgia holds off Marquette for road non-conference victory
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Non-conference road wins against teams from major conferences go a long way in building a resume worthy of a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Georgia followed up a win over a ranked St. Mary's team with a crucial 73-66 victory over Marquette on Saturday.
"It is so hard to win on the road," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "It is so hard to beat a Big East team on the road, and a very good Big East team. I think their team is terrific. For us, this is a great, great win because they are going to beat a lot of people."
The Bulldogs used a 7-0 run to build a 60-55 lead with 3:09 remaining and would not relinquish the lead.
Marquette had six straight empty possessions during the stretch and went scoreless for 3 minutes, 36 seconds after a jumper by Markus Howard put the Golden Eagles up 55-53 with 6:32 remaining.
"During that time, we made really poor decisions," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "We have to be a better decision-making team. We have to listen. When coaches and the bench is yelling something out, we have to try to run it."
A jump ball gave possession to Georgia with 1:15 remaining. Yante Maten, who led Georgia with 13 points and seven rebounds, followed with a 3-point play on the other end to give the Bulldogs a 66-61 lead with 1:03 to play.
William Jackson II added 11 points for Georgia, and Tyree Crump finished with nine points.
"Coach Fox has said for us to be a great team we are going to have to win away from home," Matan said. "We came out here to get a win whatever means necessary. Now we have to go home and defend our home court."
Andrew Rowsey gave Marquette a 31-28 lead with a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in the first half, but Nicolas Claxton hit a turnaround 25-footer on the other end to send the game into halftime tied at 31.
Howard picked up two fouls on Marquette's first defensive possession and sat until there was 6:45 remaining in the first half. He was called for his third with 42.2 seconds until halftime and didn't come in until there was 13:10 left in the game.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 15-5 with Howard on the floor in the first half.
Howard finished with 29 points in 20 minutes. Rowsey added 15 points but was just 4 of 15 from the field with six turnovers.
"Markus' foul trouble had a huge impact," Wojciechowski said. "We did not respond well when he was out of the game nor did we respond like we are capable of."
BIG PICTURE
Georgia: After a loss to San Diego State, Georgia has bounced back with consecutive big wins over St. Mary's and Marquette.
Marquette: The Golden Eagles missed an opportunity to pick up a win that would have been a nice addition to its NCAA Tournament resume.
ROLE PLAYER
Georgia sophomore Tyree Crump came off the bench to make 3 of 6 3-point attempts.
After starting the season 5 of 23 from beyond the arc, Crump is 7 of 13 in Georgia's wins over St. Mary's and Marquette.
TIP-INS
Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski made a change to his starting lineup, as freshman Greg Elliott started in place of senior Andrew Rowsey.
UP NEXT
Georgia returns home to host Winthrop on Tuesday. The Eagles are the defending Big South champions and lost to Butler in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Marquette continues a four-game homestand against defending American East champion Vermont on Tuesday.