Teams

Georgetown:
In the last few games, the Hoyas had had trouble starting games. They would come out flat and fall into holes early. That was not the case yesterday, as Georgetown came out ready to play. It took a few minutes to get accustomed to Syracuse’s defense, but once they did, they picked it apart, getting open three point looks that they nailed. The Hoyas took an 18 point lead into the break. They started the second half a little sloppy, allowing Syracuse to go on a 10 point run, but one of the benefits of a large halftime lead is that you can come out of the break slow and still be in the game. The Hoyas quickly regained control of the game and coasted to victory. Perhaps the Providence game taught the team a few lessons.

Syracuse:
The Orange kept it close in the first half by means of their offensive rebounding and points in the paint, but their zone defense did not keep the Hoyas from lighting up the scoreboard, as Georgetown put up 50 points in the first half. Eventually, Syracuse was forced to change defenses, leaving their preferred 2-3 zone for man-to-man. And that is almost never good news if you are a Syracuse fan. Fortunately, we are not.

Players

Georgetown:
There were lots of nominees for player of the game. Monroe had another well rounded performance, Summers and Freeman shot the lights out, and Clark provided key bench production. But I would say that Nikita Mescheriakov was the key to this game. He entered the game with the Hoyas up three, and immediately drained a three pointer. Jonny Flynn answered on the other end, but Nikita was not to be outdone. He made another three, and on the following possession saved a ball from going out of bounds, a play which let to two free throws for Monroe. The three followed by the save sparked a 14-0 run for the Hoyas and it all but put the game out of reach in the first half.

Syracuse:
Eric Devendorf had 20 points off the bench for the Orange. He made a few shots to keep Syracuse within striking distance, but they could never get over the hump.

Referees

The refereeing, particularly in the second half, was atrocious. While I could point to a myriad of instances of bad calls or no calls, I will instead give only one simple argument. The ever-cool-headed Coach Thompson got a technical foul because he felt the calls were consistently going against the Hoyas. And that is all the proof I need. Fortunately, the Hoyas had a large enough lead that the poor officiating had little impact on the game.

Fans

The student section was filled early, and they were very good at mocking Eric Devendorf, singing “Hey Baby” a cappella with slightly altered lyrics at various times throughout the game. As for the crowd as a whole, while there were quite a few orange shirts, and a surprisingly high number of them in the lower bowl, the Hoyas did a good job of keeping them nice and quiet.

Number of the Game

29: Bench points scored for the Hoyas. At the start of the year, a big criticism of the Hoyas was their lack of depth. The gap between the starters and the second five has been narrowing all season, and after the game, Coach said that it has shortened so much that “that discussion about a gap was for a month ago.” And that was evident in this game.

VIPS

A number of famous DC celebrities were on hand for this game. Redskins Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers came to admire Georgetown’s defense, and Senator and former presidential hopeful John McCain was also in attendance to see the Hoyas’ commanding victory.