MILWAUKEE — Markus Howard had career highs with five 3-pointers and 23 points, Jajuan Johnson added 20 with five assists and four steals on Wednesday night, December 28th and Marquette beat Georgetown 76-77 in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
Andrew Rowsey added 11 points and Luke Fischer scored eight with 10 rebounds.
Johnson and Howard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap an 11-0 run to start the game and Rowsey's with 14:30 left in the half made it 16-2 and Marquette (10-3) never trailed. Georgetown used runs of 8-0 and 10-3 to make it 26-all on Tre Campbell's 3 about seven minutes later, but another 3-pointer by Rowsey capped a 12-2 spurt that spanned halftime and gave the Golden Eagles a 50-37 lead with 15 minutes to go. Georgetown twice pulled within eight in the final 3:08, but would get no closer.
Rodney Pryor led the Hoyas (8-5) with 23 points.
Marquette has won three in a row and eight of its last nine.
Georgetown had won six in a row.