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With today’s loss at Marquette, Georgetown has dropped its last five in a row. After a promising start the team is now 12-8 and 3-6 in the Big East. I think it might be too early to start planning a trip to the NIT, but without question the Hoyas have a lot of work to do. A couple of thoughts after watching today’s game:

• DaJuan Summers’s foot injury seems to be a minor concern, because he played 37 minutes and was the best player on the floor for Georgetown. Summers scored the team’s first 8 points and was the main reason why the score was tied at halftime. But as has been the case in a number of Georgetown losses, the opposing team adjusted and limited him in the second half. There’s nothing wrong with the Hoyas riding their most reliable producer, but Summers’s teammates need to produce when defenses key in on him. That hasn’t been happening enough.
• The emergence of Nikita Mescheriakov as a competent, minute-eating reserve these past few games has been a pleasant surprise. But depth remains an issue for the Hoyas. Every player on the bench has the capability to be a meaningful contributor, but all lack consistency. Georgetown needs all its reserves to come ready to play each game if it wants to survive in the Big East.
• Sloppy play kills the Hoyas. They managed to outshoot Marquette from the field today, but countless fouls allowed the Golden Eagles to score 30 points from the free throw line. Georgetown also gives up too many inopportune turnovers (17 today), and all season long has allowed too many offensive rebounds (Marquette had 15 second-chance points).

Georgetown played better today than they have the past three games, but they also played a better opponent. The Hoyas still have a lot of problems to fix if they want to get off the bubble.

It’s a final here in Milwaukee, as No. 8 Marquette beat No. 25 Georgetown 94-82. The game was probably a bit closer than the final score would indicate, but Marquette really outplayed the Hoyas in the second half.

The Golden Eagles got 26 points from Jerel McNeal, 23 points from Lazar Hayward and 23 points from Wesley Matthews to pull away after ending the first half at 42-42. McNeal had one of his better games at Marquette, adding 11 assists, five steals and three blocks to his stat line.

Still the biggest difference in this one might have been the emergence of Matthews (19 points after the break) and Marquette’s ability to limit Georgetown’s DaJuan Summers in the second half (nine points, three rebounds). Marquette improved to 8-0 in Big East play, while Georgetown lost its fourth consecutive conference game.

Really a well played game at the Bradley Center today as No. 8 Marquette is tied 42-42 with No. 23 Georgetown. The Hoyas started out strong and led by 10 just seven minutes into the game but Marquette got timely shooting from Lazar Hayward (14 points, 5-of-7 field goals) and Jerel McNeal (14 points, 3-of-5 3-pointers). The Golden Eagles used a late 16-6 run to control the end of the half.

Marquette had absolutely no answer for DaJuan Summers in the first half, as he scored 11 of his team’s first 14 points. He finished the half with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Austin Freeman (10 points) and Greg Monroe (eight points) also led Georgetown.

This one’s too close to call, both teams shot lights-out in the first half. Georgetown was 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) from the floor and Marquette was 13-of-23 (56.5 percent). Related fact from the Georgetown media guide: Of the last 90 teams to play Georgetown, 77 shot below 45 percent. So…there’s that.

We’ll have more when this one wraps up.

The Cards have completely dominated West Virginia in the first 20 minutes of play and lead 45-25 at half.

The depth of the Cards has just been too much for WVU to handle. Eleven Cardinal players saw action in a fast paced first of play that noticeably had taken its toll on the Mountaineers before they even hit the locker room.

Jerry Smith led the Cards with an 18 point effort, but perhaps the biggest game changing performance came from freshman reserve Terrence Jennings. Jennings came off the bench to finish with 10 points and three blocks.

U of L shot 59% in the first half and held the Mountaineers to just 25% while forcing 14 turnovers. Mountaineer standout Da’Sean Butler was held to just four first half points as his team connected on just one of its six three point attempts.

Here’s a quick look at this afternoon’s game between Marquette and Georgetown in Milwaukee.

Probable Starting Lineups (season statistics in parenthesis):

MARQUETTE (18-2, 7-0 Big East):

G Dominic James (11.6 ppg, 5.4 apg)

G Jerel McNeal (19.4 ppg, 48 3-pointers)

G Wesley Matthews (19.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg)

F Lazar Hayward (16.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg)

F Dwight Burke (2.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

GEORGETOWN (12-7, 3-5):

G Chris Wright (11.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

G Jessie Sapp (6.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg)

G Austin Freeman (12.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

F DaJuan Summers (14.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg)

C Greg Monroe (14.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg)

This game might not be a must win for the Hoyas, but it has to be getting pretty close. Georgetown has lost four straight, the last two coming to Big East basement-dwellers Seton Hall and Cincinnati. The Golden Eagles are coming off a road win against Notre Dame, no small feat even given the trouble the Irish have had of late.

I can’t really see a situation in which Greg Monroe doesn’t go nuts for Georgetown today, so look for Marquette to take the Luke Harangody approach they used on Monday. Basically, they’ll probably allow Monroe his points and try to shut down everyone else, betting that one guy can’t beat them. No official word yet on whether DaJuan Summers will play with an ankle injury suffered against Cincinnati. My guess is yes, but he won’t be 100 percent.

You know the drill for Marquette — good perimeter defense led by Jerel McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews, weak frontcourt that can’t afford to get in foul trouble and don’t fall in love with the 3-pointer.

Should be a good one today, we’ll have more as we go.

Do yourself a favor and be sure not to miss these games. All game times are eastern standard.

Be sure to click on the links below each game to see more information on each contest.

Notre Dame at #3 Pittsburgh – 12pm – ESPN

Match up

West Virginia at #7 Louisville – 12pm – Local Network

Match up

#25 Georgetown at Marquette – 2pm – Local Network

Match up

Providence at #2 Conneticut – 4pm – Local Network

Match up

DePaul at Rutgers – 8pm – ESPNU

Game Notes

Loud? Yes. Smart? I agree with them on this one, but you be the judge.

Loudmouths Adam Schein and Chris Carlin talk Big East upsets. Watch and enjoy.

Reports are surfacing left and right that DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto has already decided to retain the services of mens basketball coach Jerry Wainwright until the end of next season at least.

Wainwright’s contract extends through 2012, but after the Demons latest loss to UConn put DePaul even further into the Big East basement (0-8 in conference), many fans are already second guessing Ponsetto’s decision.

The fourth year coach currently has a 51-61 record at DePaul, and is yet to take the Demons to the Big Dance. DePaul’s only Big East Tournament appearance under Waiwright came in 2007, when the Demons were bounced in the first round by Villanova. Wainwright experienced the pinnacle of his success at DePaul that same season by reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT tournament, and finishing with a 20-14 record. All-in-all however, not an impressive resume.

“I feel comfortable saying DePaul plans to retain Jerry because he’s doing all the things we’ve asked him to do, which is build the program,” Ponsetto told the Chicago Tribune earlier in the week.

The fact that Wainwright has managed to keep his players and bosses happy despite a miserable season speaks to his character. That, combine with the fact that the powers that be at DePaul believe bringing in a new coach would restart the rebuilding process, has resulted in Wainwright’s job security. Yet, if Wainwright were to duplicate DePaul’s losing ways next season, I seriously doubt he will live out the remaining two years on his contract.

Much of Wainwright’s success next season will depend on whether or not sophomore Dar Tucker returns for his junior season. 

The bright side; all 16 teams in the conference make the Big East tournament this season, so Wainwright can add another tournament appearance to his resume.

With #1 Duke falling to Wake Forrest on Wednesday night, the stage is set for #2 UConn to finally take over the top spot when the new rankings come out on Monday.

As far as Providence is concerned however, the stage is set for the Friars second consecutive Big East upset, as the two teams will meet at 4pm in Conneticut on Saturday.

Along with Pitt, UConn has been the darling of the Big East this season. Yet, unlike Pitt, the Huskies have not been able to claim the #1 ranking. 

For the first seven weeks of the season, UConn was seated firmly at #2 behind UNC. As fait would have it, both UConn and UNC lost their first games during the same week, paving the way for Pitt to take the top spot in week 8.

UConn fell to #5 after their sole loss to Georgetown, but have since moved back to #2 after 8 consecutive wins have left Jim Calhoun and company with a 19-1 record.

Barring some pollstering B.S., the Huskies now only need to get past Providence to be the team to beat in the country.

At 6-2, Providence has the best conference record of any team in the Big East that is not ranked in the top 25.

A season opening loss to Northeastern got the Friars off to a rough start, but on Wednesday Providence earned their first victory over a ranked oppponent as they defeated Syracuse 100-94.

Here’s how the teams match-up:

Providence

UConn

Speaking via teleconference this morning, John Thompson III had an explanation for last night’s loss to Cincinnati.

“Mentally we weren’t prepared to try and win a game coming down to crunch time without having DaJuan [Summers] as part of the equation.”

Unless Thompson can get his team mentally prepared by Saturday, things aren’t looking good for the Hoyas against Marquette. Commenting on the status of his leading scorer, who was injured late in the first half last night, Thompson said “it doesn’t look good” for the game in Milwaukee. While he was still waiting for Summers to return from the doctor, Thompson speculated that the junior forward might have plantar fasciitis. (UPDATE: Looks like it’s being called a strained muscle and his official status is day-to-day)

I haven’t seen Summers myself today, but a poster on the HoyaTalk forums reports that he was walking around campus on crutches and wearing a boot. Already reeling after four straight losses, the Hoyas may not be able to recover if they lose one of their few veterans for an extended length of time.