Notes: Duane Wilson makes a case for starting role

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Overall, Marquette put forth a dispirited and lackluster performance on Saturday during an 80-62 loss to Georgetown at the Verizon Center. In a game that featured few silver linings for the Golden Eagles, one was undoubtedly the play of redshirt junior Duane Wilson.

As many of his teammates began to wilt under the weight of being down by double digits, Wilson never stopped battling. After Georgetown opened the second-half with a 5-0 run to take a 46-32 lead, Wilson entered the game with 18:12 left and stemmed the tide. First, he deposited a layup off a feed from senior Jajuan Johnson then at the other end snuck around Hoyas sophomore center Jessie Govan and popped the ball out, diving to the hardwood to secure a steal. Wilson then got up and made his way to the other end of the court where he knocked down a midrange jumper.

Wilson played for all but three minutes for the rest of the game, finishing with 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting to go along with three assists — one-third of the team's total.He never quit defensively, diving for loose balls even in the waning moments when the outcome had been decided.

"You could say that's what I was trying to do," Wilson said when asked if he was trying to lead by example. "Just leading the team and doing whatever it takes to win. Coach told me as someone coming off the bench to bring a lot of energy. We need a defender on our team so that's what I try to do and my shot was falling today.

"To me it feels like I didn't do anything today. We lost. That's all that matters to me."

Georgetown 80, MU 62: Hoyas stomp Golden Eagles

For his part, head coach Steve Wojciechowski offered a different perspective regarding the redshirt junior. He demonstrated his approval by rewarding Wilson with 23 minutes of playing time — the fourth-most minutes on the team despite being limited by two early fouls — and implied that there will likely be more opportunities for him going forward.

"I really like where Duane's at," Wojciechowski said. "He should probably be starting for us right now."

Wilson, who started 45 of 65 games during his first two seasons, has come off the bench for all but one game this season. He's averaging 5.3 points, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game — the steals representing the second-most on the team — while playing the second-fewest minutes among the team's nine scholarship players.

Wilson has accepted his role and at times even relished in it. That doesn't mean he didn't appreciate hearing about Wojciechowski's comments.

"It means a lot but I'm satisfied with my role," he said. "Coming off the bench is something I've been going with. If that's what Coach's decision is I'm just going to listen to what he says. I'm going to play hard regardless if I'm starting or however many minutes I get. I'm playing hard and giving my all."

Drought from downtown: Even great shooting teams have off days sometimes and Marquette certainly proved that on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles entered Saturday ranked third in the country in three-point percentage at 42.4% but struggled mightily from long range against Georgetown, going just 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. Their makes, attempts and shooting percentage (21.4%) all represented season-lows.

At many points in the game, Marquette passed up decent looks from three-point range but failed to create better opportunities. Georgetown's defense, knowing Marquette's shooting prowess well from the teams' earlier meeting when the Golden Eagles made 10 of 23 treys, extended themselves and switched everything to try to take opportunities away around the perimeter.

The Golden Eagles never adjusted to that scheme and had trouble finding good shots inside or out as they tried to go one-on-one to take advantage of mismatches.

"What they did with their switching was make us make plays off the dribble," head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "We talked about that and how this is what teams are doing and so the ball needs to continue to move. Just because a big guy switches on you — this isn't the NBA. We don't have any NBA players. I hope some of our guys make it to that level, but they're not there now. You're not just going to be able to iso a big guy in the college game.

"You've got to move the ball and after ball movement, because they're switching and have to talk and communicate a lot when you're switching like that, then drives will present themselves and you'll either get a drive at the rim or you keep your feet and you're going to get a kick. If they stay with shooters you're going to get a cut. We've not been able to grasp that concept yet and obviously I have to be able to communicate that better."