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Georgetown beats Marquette, finally controls Big East destiny

Otto Porter Jr., John Thompson III

Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) celebrates with head coach John Thompson III after an NCAA college basketball game against Marquette, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, in Washington. Georgetown won 63-55. Porter had game-high 21 points. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

AP

The Georgetown turnaround has become one of the nation’s most intriguing story lines. Here’s a team that struggled to break 40 points throughout much of December, dropped to 0-2 in the Big East when they were pounded by Pitt at home and lost their second-leading scorer and most versatile defender to academic issues when the second semester began.

I wrote the Hoyas off.

You wrote the Hoyas off.

Just about everyone except for the people in John Thompson III’s locker room wrote the Hoyas off.

And here they are, on February 11th, with a legitimate shot at winning the Big East regular season title.

I’m serious. They’ve won six straight games and eight of their last nine to climb to 8-3 in the Big East. Monday’s 63-55 win over No. 18 Marquette at the Verizon Center drew the Hoyas into a second-place tie with the Golden Eagles a half-game behind Syracuse -- who holds a one game lead in the loss column -- at the top of the league standings.

And, unlike Marquette, everything seems to be clicking for Georgetown right now. Otto Porter is beginning to take over games the way everyone that had him projected as a lottery pick back in October thought he would. He’s averaging 18.6 points over the last nine games. Markel Starks is becoming more consistent as a secondary scoring option and a steadying influence in the Hoya offensive attack. He’s averaged 16.6 points over the last five games. Mikael Hopkins has awoken from his January hibernation. Nate Lubick has embraced the larger role that he’s playing in Thompson’s offense with Whittington out. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera is one of a handful of reserves that have made the most of their opportunity to play increased minutes.

A lot has changed for the Hoyas over the course of the last month.

The result is a team that is finally confident offensively while still managing to play defense as well as they have all season long. That’s why they are in a position to make a run at the Big East title. It certainly won’t be easy. Georgetown still has to play two games against Syracuse and visit Cincinnati, UConn and Villanova. That schedule is the reason that I think the Hoyas are still a long shot to win the league.

But they have a chance, and they hold their destiny in their hands.

Win out, and they win the final installment of the Big East as we know it.

Win out, and that Big East title will come when Georgetown sweeps Syracuse by beating them at home in the final Big East matchup between the two teams.

That’s a long way away.

But with all the uncertainty surrounding the Catholic 7 and the future of Georgetown’s basketball program, it’s must be nice to hear that the Hoyas finally control their Big East destiny.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.