Instant Juice: Syracuse 72, Georgetown 79

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Hopkins is leaving Syracuse
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Prior to his interim head coaching debut Sat. against Georgetown, Mike Hopkins spent a few minutes being interviewed by Tim Brando of FOX Sports outside the ‘Cuse locker room at the Verizon Center.

Washington, D.C. – A quick take on Syracuse’s tough-to-swallow 79-72 loss at the hands of Georgetown, in front of a boisterous, near sell-out crowd of 18,231 at the Verizon Center Sat. afternoon:

WHAT HAPPENED: SU (6-2) dropped its second straight game as Georgetown (4-3) came out hot shooting from the outside, and SU did not, resulting in a 12 point Hoyas halftime lead, and it ballooned from there with GU up by 20 at the first media timeout of the second half. SU made a late second half run to cut the lead to six with under 1:00 to play before the Hoyas held on.

» Related: What is the impact of Jim Boeheim’s suspension?

ANALYSIS: In Mike Hopkins interim coaching debut some of the changes from Jim Boeheim’s coaching style were noticeable, including the starting lineup playing the first seven minutes of the game intact, and mix and matching different lineup combinations to get bigger in the zone on defense, and spread the passing lanes on offense.  But none of it mattered with the Orange getting beaten on the boards (36-27) and the Hoyas hot shooting (50%) denying any thoughts of a SU comeback. Interesting to speculate what Boeheim’s reaction was throughout the afternoon watching the FOX national telecast back in Syracuse.

HERO: Georgetown senior center Bradley Hayes looked like an All American against SU big men Dajuan Coleman and Tylor Lydon, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds playing a strong interior game at both ends.

ZERO: Outside shooting and losing the rebound battle.  As the Syracuse season will continue to be defined by outside shooting in general and three-point baskets in particular, SU struggled (25% on three-pointers) with its shots, and major freshmen contributors Lydon and Malachi Richardson had a long day finishing with a combined nine points.

WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse returns home to face longtime upstate rival Colgate on Tues., Dec. 8.  The Raiders (2-4) play a road game against TCU on Sat. evening before heading to the Dome.  Game Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / TV: ESPNU.

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About Brad Bierman 848 Articles
Now in his sixth decade of covering SU sports, Brad was sports director of WSYR radio for eight years into the early 1990s, then wrote the Orange Watch column for The Big Orange/The Juice print publication for 18 years. A Syracuse University graduate, Brad currently runs his own media consulting business in the Philadelphia suburbs. Follow him on Twitter @BradBierman.