A quick take on Syracuse’s 83-64 win over Georgetown:
WHAT HAPPENED: In a day filled with pageantry with Jim Boeheim and Pearl Washington being inducted into Syracuse’s Ring of Honor, the Orange handed its old rival from the Big East era a sound defeat. Though Syracuse fell behind early 12-2, Jim Boeheim went to his bench, and key subs John Bol Ajak and Symir Torrence sparked the Syracuse offense to rally the Orange to a 45-34 edge at half. Syracuse continued its pace in the second half, and a 7-0 run ending with a Benny Williams dunk with 3:20 to go put the Orange up 71-57, and gave them complete control of the game.
ANALYSIS: Syracuse versus Georgetown, a marquee college basketball matchup in the 80s that stretched through the early 2010s, has fallen on hard times. Both teams are nowhere near the top 25 and both are struggling to stay at the .500 mark midway through December, something that never crossed anyone’s minds during the heyday of this matchup. In 2021-22, for the first time in Jim Boeheim’s long Syracuse tenure, the Orange finished below .500 in its overall record, while Georgetown slunk to new depths, going 6-25 overall and 0-19 in conference play. But Syracuse showed on Saturday that it is on an upward trajectory this season compared to its old rival, having now won three straight. and finding a good offensie flow once again, as the Orange shot 50.0 percent from the field and assisted on 20 of its 30 made baskets.
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HERO: Syracuse introduced its initial basketball members into the Ring of Honor during a ceremony, and honored Jim Boeheim and Dwayne ‘Pearl’ Washington. Boeheim, now in his 47th season as head coach of the Orange, is college basketball’s most winningest active coach at the moment, with over 1,000 official wins recorded. Washington, a three-time All-American point guard, scored 1,490 career points in his storied Syracuse career, and ranks fourth in career assists and fifth in career steals.
As for the players in this game, Jesse Edwards led the Orange with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Ajak scored a career-high 5 points and added 5 rebounds. Primo Spears paced Georgetown with 22 points, though he went just 1-6 from 3-point land.
ZERO: This was not the day for outside shooting. Syracuse shot 6-25 from downtown while the Hoyas were 3-14. For Syracuse, its chief offenders were Joe Girard (2-8 from downtown) and Justin Taylor (0-2). Aside from Spears, Bryson Mozone (0-3) and Jay Heath (3-10) also struggled.
WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse stays at home, and hosts Monmouth on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. TV: ACC Network.
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