Syracuse goes cold in final stretch of Georgetown showdown

Saturday’s meeting between Syracuse and Georgetown in the JMA Wireless Dome had the same intensity, bitterness and punishing feel as many of the 99 previous showdowns for the long-time rivals.

After 40 minutes, 16 lead changes and a persistent on-court chatter between the players, the Orange’s shooting went cold in the final minutes to give the Hoyas the last say and a 75-71 win.

SU came into Saturday’s meeting winning two straight versus the Hoyas and six of the last 10 meetings. Saturday’s showdown had the feel of the days with both squared off in the Big East with tough, aggressive play down from both teams before an animated 17,187 fans.

“I love the Big East, I love the Big East, and that’s what it felt like here,” Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley said postgame. “I’m pretty sure the alum on both sides know that it’s not the friendliest game in town.”

With Syracuse and Georgetown entered today, shooting less than 30% for three-pointers on their seasons, Saturday was no different for either squad with SU shooting 25% and Hoyas 24% from beyond the arc.

With poor outside shooting all game, both teams looked inside to their big forwards.

Getting center Eddie Lampkin the ball was SU’s main focus and the only success they found in the first half. Lampkin went into halftime with 10 of his 18 points Saturday, but he and his teammates missed several at-the-rim opportunities. 

For the Hoyas, they played through their star freshman forward Thomas Sorber who finished the game with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Georgetown guards Malik Mack, Jayden Epps and Micah Peavy outplayed the Orange backcourt, combining for a total of 48 of the team’s 75 points. Epps finished with a game-high 27 points, scoring 17 points in the second half, going 7-7 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc. 

At halftime, the game was tied at 37, but Georgetown’s foul trouble was what kept Syracuse in the game as the Orange made 11 of 17 free throws compared to three of four by the Hoyas.

Noting the foul issues, Cooley said his team has been working to polish up throughout the early part of the season, especially in high-profile games.

“Teams are trying to improve this time of the year,” Cooley said. “It’s a nonconference game that we’re trying to win; we’re trying to show improvement every time we step on the floor.

“I think this four games in a row where we showed vast improvement. Even in our loss last week, I thought we got better.”

Georgetown came ready to fight in the second half, punching SU in the mouth quickly with a layup and dunk and prompting an Orange timeout less than 90 seconds into the half.

When Georgetown took their biggest 8-point lead of the game at the 13:45, Lampkin’s two layups on back-to-back possessions got the Dome crowd riled up — and the furious history between the rivals showed up, too.

After a foul by SU freshman guard Elijah Moore, players from both teams started getting chippy and shoving midcourt. A double technical foul was issued to SU’s Lucas Taylor and Georgetown’s Drew Fielder for the mini-scuffle, but the tension could then be felt throughout the Dome as fans stood yelling at the action on the court. 

The energy would help SU regain the lead minutes later and even go ahead 64-58 thanks to solid offensive and defensive play by the Orange senior forward Jyáre Davis and senior guard Jaquan Carlos.

But in a 2-minute stretch, Georgetown chipped away at the six-point lead to regain the lead at the 4:32 mark.

The two would exchange leads one last time before five consecutive missed field goals by Syracuse made them unable to ever catch Georgetown again.

Junior forward Chris Bell, who finished with only 3 points Saturday compared to this season average of nearly 12 points, was the only SU player with prior experience in the rivalry.

“We can’t beat everybody playing one on one,” Bell said. “We can beat the smaller teams like that and mid-majors teams, but when it comes to power five teams like Georgetown, you gotta be able to play team basketball.”

SU head coach Adrian Autry blamed the loss on the Orange’s poor transition defense, eight offensive rebounds by Georgetown in the second half, free throws and the team inability to score when they needed to.

SU’s Davis who finished with 15 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes of play Saturday, was facing off against Cooley, his former coach at Providence. Davis said playing against Cooley made the game even more important for him.

“There is a lot of motivation to play in any basketball game you’re a part of,” Davis said. “But of course, you add in him being the other coach and, of course, Georgetown being who we were playing in a big rivalry was the game I was looking forward to.”

Davis and the Orange (5-5) now look forward to another New York City trip back at Barclays Center next Saturday versus a great Big Ten opponent Maryland.