College Hoops Picks Jan. 31, 2009: Georgetown Hoyas at Marquette Golden Eagles

Georgetown Hoyas (12-7) at Marquette Golden Eagles (18-2)

Saturday, Jan. 31—2:00 PM EST

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Preview

The Hoyas (3-5, 12-7) are on a slippery slope—after kicking off conference play with a big victory over Connecticut, Georgetown has gone 2-5 in conference play. Considering they just finished the toughest six game schedule in college hoops, this record may seem respectable.

But it's what they have done since that stretch ended that has left the Hoya nation in despair—losses to Cincinnati and Seton Hall (the Pirates were yet to be victorious in Big East play when they hosted Georgetown).

The Golden Eagles (7-0, 18-2) are on the complete opposite side of the ball—after being assumed to be a bubble team at the start of the season, they are tied for the top spot in the Big East and now seem like a lock for March.

They are yet to face the toughest teams the Big East has to offer (Connecticut, Pittsburgh, and Louisville), but they have looked very strong against the teams they have faced.

Marquette draws its strength from two key players—Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal. Between the two of them, they average over 38 points per game, six assists and ten rebounds.

In fact, the Golden Eagles' top four scorers account for 66 of the team's total 81 average points per game.

The Hoyas two biggest threats are DaJuan Summers and Greg Monroe. Monroe is a very mobile center who can dribble and penetrate, kick the ball out to the open man, and establish himself inside.

Summers is a forward who has the ability perform eye-popping dunks and hit the three (he leads Georgetown in beyond the arc shooting percentage with .389). Summers is questionable for Saturday's game, and if he doesn't play, it will leave a huge void for the Hoyas.

Stats

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Georgetown	12-7	3-5	6-8	21	2	71.9	62.7
Marquette	18-2	7-0	8-6-1	15	70	81.0	67.0

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Georgetown	46.9	39.2	32.3	30.3	73.0	36.9	8.1	13.5	13.8
Marquette	46.7	42.4	36.1	31.7	71.6	39.1	8.0	16.0	12.0

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Prediction

Current Line: Marquette -7.0

Georgetown ATS: 6-8, 1-2 when underdog
Marquette ATS: 8-6-1, 7-5-1 when favored

Georgetown has been terrible recently. They have missed a ton of three pointers and failed to score when they need to. Marquette has been on fire, but they rely on four players for almost all of their offense.

Marquette has had some close games recently (they defeated Notre Dame by seven, DePaul by nine, Providence by nine, and Rutgers by five).

The Hoyas have lost their stride completely, but their biggest loss comes from losing Summers. With Summers questionable for Saturday, the Hoyas are going to struggle from the floor (especially considering he is their leading scorer).

Things are not looking up for the Hoyas.

Pick: Marquette -7.0

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*

*This article is also featured on CBBPlace.com*