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Junior forward DaJuan Summers goes up for a shot during the Hoyas’ 94-82 loss on Saturday at Marquette. Despite an ankle injury, Summers paced the Hoyas with 22 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes of play.

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 31 – With 11:03 remaining, the Golden Eagles on a 16-4 run, and a timeout called on the floor, a Marquette student set his feet shoulder-width apart, just beyond the three-point arc, with a semester’s tuition on the line. He bent his knees, released a soft shot, and watched as the ball sailed smoothly through the net. Indeed, shooting from long range looked mighty easy for anyone wearing the Blue and Gold on Saturday. The Golden Eagles knocked down 10 threes of their own, as well as another handful of contested jumpers, defeating the Hoyas 94-82.

For Georgetown, the defeat was the fifth consecutive and the seventh in nine games. Now at 12-8 and 3-6 in league play, the Hoyas are tied for 11th in the Big East and dwelling in unfamiliar territory.

“I’m feeling a lot that I haven’t felt,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. “We played a very good team on their home court with a couple of great players that played like great players. . In the second half, it seemed like they made tough shot after tough shot. They’re playing at a high level right now, especially Jerel [McNeal].”

cNeal, a senior guard, went off for a remarkable 26 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and five steals, moving to third on the school’s all-time scoring list. Add to that 23 points from both junior forward Lazar Hayward and senior guard Wes Matthews (seven rebounds), and Marquette’s marquee trio was too much to handle.

Junior forward DaJuan Summers, who was listed as day-to-day with a strained left foot coming into the game, led Georgetown with 22 points and seven rebounds, scoring his 1,000th career point on a driving dunk with 16:45 left. Sophomore guard Chris Wright added 19 points and eight assists, aided by a quick tempo which suits his game well, and freshman center Greg Monroe had 13 points and four rebounds.

Hitting the road to face No. 8 Marquette on Saturday, the No. 25 Hoyas, losers of four straight and six of eight at that time, were not expected to be able to handle the 18-2 (7-0 Big East) Golden Eagles. At halftime, however, it looked as if Georgetown had gone a long way toward returning to form, as the Hoyas battled Marquette to a 42-42 tie over the game’s first 20 minutes, shooting 65.4 percent (6-of-8 from deep) in the process.

And after opening up a slight 50-47 lead with 16:21 remaining, Georgetown seemed poised to battle the Golden Eagles to the final buzzer.

Cue a return to familiar, if unfortunate, form.

Wright lost the ball in transition and Matthews converted at the other end for a layup. McNeal came up with another Marquette steal on the Hoyas next possession, and after Georgetown knocked a loose ball out of play, Matthews knocked down a three-pointer for the lead.

Georgetown tied the score at 52 with 14:29 to go, but over the next 3:26, the Golden Eagles reeled off a 12-2 run, highlighted by three offensive rebounds, two steals and five McNeal points, scored on a three-pointer with just a half-step separating him and his defender and a driving layup straight down the paint.

“Stuck in my head right now is a stretch in the second half where I thought we were playing tough defense and then bang, they make a shot,” Thompson said.

arquette opened the lead up to 71-58 with 8:11 remaining and 80-64 with 4:59 to go. By then, the ballgame was long over.

“I thought that in the second half we were a much different team although the numbers don’t necessarily reflect it,” Marquette Head Coach Buzz Williams said.

Worse than the threes Georgetown surrendered was the Hoyas’ inability to make a stop when the Golden Eagles went to the free-throw line. Georgetown committed 17 second-half fouls, only four of which were late-game fouls intended to stop the clock, allowing Marquette to attempt 25 second-half free throws, 20 of which were successful. For the game, the Golden Eagles shot 30-for-38, compared to the Hoyas 8-for-13 from the line.

“I think all of us have just matured a tremendous amount since our freshman year,” McNeal said. “Our best thing is going to the basket and making open baskets and making open shots. . We become a team that most teams are going to have a tough time keeping out of the lane.”

Georgetown was able to play Marquette even in the first half because of 65 percent shooting, which included 6-of-8 marksmanship from beyond the arc. Summers scored 13 first-half points.

The Hoyas even led by as many as nine at 25-17 with 9:29 to go, but a McNeal three, and two free throws from both senior guard Dominic James and Hayward quickly brought Marquette back. After a Monroe layup, McNeal scored on a drive and Matthews knocked down an open three to take the lead.

Georgetown took a lead into the final minute of the first half, but the Hoyas let Hayward convert an open three to tie the game at 42.

The Hoyas were aided by a 14-9 rebounding advantage in the first stanza, but the Golden Eagles were quick to erase that in the second period. Marquette outrebounded Georgetown 22-15 after the break, en route to 12 second-chance points in the second half.

In either of the past two seasons, or earlier this year, playing a top-10 Big East team on the road, in a raucous environment, to a draw for most of the game may not have been a moral victory, but it would not have been killer, either. But this season, with the Hoyas reeling and the losses quickly piling up, there is no such thing anymore as a good loss.

arquette showed itself to be better on both ends of the floor, tougher on the glass and quicker to loose balls. But more than anything, the Golden Eagles seemed to be more confident and carefree.

“When you put a lot of work into something and see the benefits,” Matthews said, “you can’t help but have fun and be confident.”

Next up for the Hoyas is a home date with Rutgers tonight at the Verizon Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

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