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ATHENS, Ga. -- Coach Steve Wojciechowski challenged Jajaun Johnson at halftime to stop playing timidly and give Marquette a better effort.I got a little mad, and when I get mad I play better, Johnson said. When he got on me, it just clicked.Freshman Sam Hauser scored a career-high 19 points, Johnson added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Marquette had little trouble beating Georgia 89-79 on Sunday.Markus Howard finished with 15 points as the Golden Eagles (6-2) won their fourth straight game.Yante Maten had 24 points and J.J. Frazier 20 for Georgia (5-3).During a 3-minute, 30-second stretch early in the second half, Johnson hit a 3, had three steals, a tip-in, a dunk, hit two free throws and grabbed a rebound.When he plays with the kind of effort and energy that he did at the start of the second half, he can impact the game in a lot of ways, Wojciechowski said. That was another sign of it to start the second half. He really was all over the place, which was good to see.Stegeman Coliseum, which seats 10,523, was about two-thirds full, a decent-sized crowd for a building thats rarely charged with atmosphere in December.Down by 16 with 14:27 remaining, the Bulldogs made a run to get excited the crowd with seven minutes to go, cutting the lead to two on William Jacksons 3 and two free throws.But Howard hit a 3 at the 4:29 mark put Marquette up by 13 and Georgia never threatened again.Defense, defense, Johnson said. They all came from steals. We knew they were going to make a run. We just had to stay together when it got tough.Marquette hit its first six 3s and eight of its first nine as Duane Wilson made it 25-15 with 11 minutes left in the first half to give the Golden Eagles their first double-digit lead.Georgia cut the lead to three before intermission, but coach Mark Fox called time out at the 16:43 mark of the second with the Golden Eagles back again leading by 10.Howards 3 with 15:47 remaining made Marquette 11 of 15 beyond the arc and pushed the lead to 14.Our big lineup couldnt cover them, so we played small most of the day in an effort to try to slow the 3-point shooting, which I dont think we really ever did, Fox said. We didnt do the dirty work to win.BIG PICTUREMarquette: Won despite a rare unproductive game from G Haanif Cheatham, the Golden Eagles third-leading scorer and named last season to the Big East Conferences all-freshman team. Making his 41st straight start in 41 career games, Cheatham missed six of his first eight shots (1 for 7) and picked up his fourth foul with 16:06 remaining. He finished with two points in 25 minutes.Hes played really well for us, Wojciechowski said. That happens over the course of the season. Other guys stepped up, which was great.Georgia: Had its 24th consecutive game in double-digit scoring from Maten, but the Bulldogs are too reliant for him and Frazier on offense. Nobody else averages close to double digits. Fox has yet to find a way to replace the productivity of departed seniors Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines, who combined to average 24.1 points last season.The Bulldogs are looking for other players to step up if theyre going to return to the NCAA Tournament after missing out last season. Poor defense isnt helping either.We have some serious areas to work on, Fox said. Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann were terrific defenders. We havent replaced the defense that walked out of here with a degree. Thats disappointing to lose a game because you dont defend like we need to.UP NEXTMarquette: Host to Fresno State on Tuesday.Georgia: Host to Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 14. Tom Gugliotta Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Wizards Jerseys 2020 . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. https://www.cheapwizardsonline.com/1769k-isaiah-thomas-jersey-wizards.html . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Jordan McRae Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Pervis Ellison Jersey . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. AMES, Iowa -- Iowa States offense has been very solid for stretches this season, and its defense has improved since last season.The problem is that the Cyclones cant get both clicking at the same time and that inconsistency helped knock them out of the Top 25.Iowa State (6-3) was left out of Mondays rankings, snapping a run of 61 straight weeks in the poll, after dropping three of its last four. The Cyclones are coming off one of their ugliest games in years, falling to Iowa 78-64 on the road last week.Iowa State will face instate rival Drake (1-8) on Saturday as part of a doubleheader in Des Moines.This team will be fine. I mean, I know were living off the Iowa game, Prohm said. This team has to play a certain way all the time, and we didnt do that in stretches in the Iowa game.Prohms way includes strong ball movement.For a team with a backcourt led by preseason All-American point guard Monte Morris, the Cyclones have too often failed to make the extra pass that leads to a better shot.A poor assist-to-basket ratio has symbolized Iowa States lack of ball movement in its last two losses. The Cyclones had just five assists in an overtime loss to No. 25 Cincinnati on Dec. 1 and just nine against the Hawkeyes, who entered play with a losing record.Prohm said the key to fixing Iowa States offense is for it to pick up the pace and cut down on what he called freelancing.First and foremost, weve got to start playing in transition. Weve got to get some easy baskets by playing in transition and pushing the tempo, Prohm said. When we run our offense and we execute, we get good shots.The Cyclones have also struggled because Naz Mitrou-Long just isnt shooting very welll.dddddddddddd.Mitrou-Long, who missed most of last season because of lingering issues with his surgically-repaired hips, is shooting just 39 percent from the floor and just 26.7 percent on 3s -- two years after ranking second in the Big 12 in 3s per game. Morris said hes confident that Mitrou-Long will eventually shoot his way out of his recent funk.Its not about how you start. Its how you finish, Mitrou-Long said. Ive put in too much work. These guys put in too much work. Weve beaten ourselves. Me and Monte talk about it every day. If it has to be us against the world, I like our chances.For a program whose expectations have soared in recent seasons, three losses out of four can feel like an epidemic.But things arent as bad as they might seem for the Cyclones.Iowa State rallied from 20 down and was within a Monte Morris 3 at the buzzer from beating No. 8 Gonzaga on Nov. 27. If Mitrou-Longs 3 at the regulation buzzer gone down against Cincinnati, the Cyclones would have won that game as well.Iowa States defense has also been better than its offense, and teams that defend well typically have a chance on the road once league play comes around.But for the Cyclones to get back on track, theyll need the loss at Iowa to be their tipping point.Its a bright future and a bright road down the line. Its tough right now and it might be hard to see for (the media). But there is definitely going to be a change, and its definitely going to get back to normal around here, Morris said.---More college basketball at www.collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '