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Crowder leads Marquette in defeat of Georgetown

Mar 4, 2012 - 1:49 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Jae Crowder posted 26 points, a career-high 14 rebounds with five steals as No. 8 Marquette topped 11th-ranked Georgetown, 83-69, in the regular-season finale for both schools at Bradley Center.

Darius Johnson-Odom scored 17 points and Vander Blue added 13 for the Golden Eagles (25-6, 14-4 Big East), who assured themselves of a two-seed and a double bye in the upcoming conference tourney thanks to their sixth win in seven outings.

"I'm thankful to be able to coach young men like this," said Marquette head coach Buzz Williams about his senior leaders playing their last home game. "I think the separation is the hardest thing, that these kids want to win and to do it on this stage, it speaks to the heart of these guys."

Otto Porter and Hollis Thompson each provided 19 points for the Hoyas (22-7, 12-6), who were coming off wins against Villanova and Notre Dame.

Jason Clark contributed 11 points and eight turnovers as Georgetown heads into the postseason having bypassed only the opening round.

Sims hit 1-of-2 from the line to get the visitors to 31-26 with under five minutes left in the first half, but Marquette ended on an 8-3 run to take a 10-point lead into intermission.

Things continued to go the hosts' way to begin the second half thanks to a 9-2 burst. The surge was capped by an alley-oop slam by Jamil Wilson off a Crowder dish which made it 48-31 less than three minutes in.

Georgetown managed to crawl within eight, 51-43, with 5 1/2 minutes played, but the Golden Eagles responded with a 7-2 burst to assume a 58-45 edge roughly two minutes later.

A Porte layup brought the Hoyas back to 62-53 with 7:09 on the clock, but Crowder boosted Marquette's edge back into double digits with a three-point play on the ensuing possession, and the visitors had nothing left in the tank from there.

"The biggest difference was us, and that we couldn't get away from what they did," said Hoyas head coach John Thompson III. "Particularly early on, we lacked the consistency we needed. We need to get different kinds of shots than we had today."

Marquette jumped out to a 7-2 lead early, but Georgetown answered on a 10-2 run. Thompson's deuce gave the Hoyas a 14-13 advantage but the Eagles took the lead for good on a 9-3 clip which left them ahead by a 23-16 count just after the midway point of the first half.

Game Notes

Marquette, which ended the year unbeaten at home in conference play, shot 48 percent from the floor and Georgetown connected on just under 40 percent of its field goals...Wilson ended with 11 points and five boards...Sims led the Hoyas with nine boards...Georgetown had won the last three meetings and seven of 12 over Marquette coming in.