By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Georgetown coach John Thompson III was so
focused on the details of the game that he claimed not to notice
a momentum swing when Marquette counterpart Buzz Williams was
called for a technical foul in the second half.



But his point guard felt it.



"Yeah, absolutely," the Hoyas' Markel Starks said. "Absolutely."



The 18th-ranked Golden Eagles were making a run at No. 15
Georgetown, having closed a 10-point deficit to three when
Williams got T'd up for arguing an out-of-bounds call along the
baseline with 12:13 to play.



The Hoyas responded with an 8-1 run immediately after the call,
and Marquette didn't get closer than eight points the rest of
the way in Georgetown's 63-55 victory Monday night.



"I was just hollering at somebody that would respond," Williams
said. "We can make a big deal out of it if you want. I got a
technical. I'm sorry. I may get a technical again next year -
that's my average - and it'll probably be on the road."



Otto Porter scored 11 of his 21 points after the technical,
Starks finished with 16 points, and Georgetown scored 24 points
off 19 turnovers to move into a tie with the Golden Eagles for
second place in the Big East.



The Hoyas (18-4, 8-3 Big East) won their sixth straight and
avenged a 49-48 loss at Marquette on Jan. 5.



Jamil Wilson scored 13 points to lead the Golden Eagles (17-6,
8-3), who fell out of a first-place tie with Syracuse (8-2).
Chris Otule scored eight of Marquette's first 11 points but had
only three the rest of the game.



Williams indeed has five technical fouls in his five seasons at
Marquette, according to the school, but this was a case of using
up his reservoir of goodwill long before the call that cost him.
He pushed the envelope repeatedly in the first half with his
now-familiar strolls outside the coach's box, twice venturing
close to the midcourt circle with play under way. Georgetown
fans began serenading him with chants of "Off the court!" in the
second half.



Williams finally got the technical for disputing a call that
could have gone either way. Porter made both free throws and
then hit a floater on the ensuing possession to complete a
four-point series that pushed the lead to 41-34.



Williams said "any time you get a technical it's a bad time,"
but he also cited the Golden Eagles' 12 first-half turnovers and
the fact that he didn't have a player credited with an offensive
rebound in the first 20 minutes as bigger factors in the loss.



"I'm not sure you can win in Division I at home or on the road
with those type of numbers," he said.



With both teams playing aggressive defense and the officials
calling a tight game, the flow was practically non-existent.
Instead of trading baskets, the Hoyas and Golden Eagles kept
swapping some combination of turnovers, steals and offensive
fouls.



Georgetown went nearly 7 minutes without a field goal to start
the second half, but the pace was so laborious that the Golden
Eagles were only able to outscore the Hoyas 8-2 during that
span.



Georgetown went 9 for 24 from the field after the break but
compensated by making 11 of 17 free throws.



Thompson said "I don't remember" when asked about the
post-technical momentum shift. Instead, he cited improved
rebounding as a key. Mikael Hopkins had a career-high nine
rebounds.



"God bless him. Now that he's got to do it again Saturday,
Friday, whenever we play next," Thompson said.



Porter has been doing just about everything in every game
lately. He's been the catalyst for Georgetown's improved play
since that loss to Marquette more than five weeks ago.



"We've evolved a lot from that first Big East game to now,"
Porter said. "I think we've made a lot of adjustments, just
learning from our mistakes."



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