Teams

Georgetown:
The Hoyas have been a hot-and-cold type of team all season long, and you saw both sides in this game. The first 25 minutes of the game were difficult to watch, as Georgetown looked flummoxed by the Syracuse zone, as if the Orange have not been playing the same defense for 30 years, and they were totally incapable of stopping Syracuse, giving up wide open three-point looks or dunks.

However, then the Hoyas seemed to awake from a bad dream and put together a furious comeback, overcoming a 23-point second half deficit to give themselves a chance to take the lead with under a minute to play. And that is perhaps the most frustrating thing about this team. When the Hoyas are playing well, they can blow out teams like Duke and Villanova. But at other times they look lethargic, unable to beat even the weakest opponent.

Syracuse:
The Orange played like a number one seed for half of the game, and for a while it seemed like they were headed for a huge blowout. However, they looked very vulnerable as the Hoyas started their run. They got flustered and stopped getting the high-percentage shots that helped them in the first half. In the end, though, they were able to hold on for the win.

Players

Georgetown:
For the second time this season, Austin Freeman, Greg Monroe, and Chris Wright each scored 20 or more. Chris Wright was the only Hoya making any shots in the first half. Austin Freeman was instrumental in Georgetown’s second half run, punctuating the comeback with a thunderous dunk to make it a two point game with three minutes remaining. Greg Monroe missed the free throw to tie the game, but came up with a big offensive rebound to give the Hoyas another chance. All the efforts were for naught unfortunately, as the Hoyas had perhaps dug themselves too deep of a hole, but the Big Three brought the Hoyas almost all the way back; hopefully next time they’ll be able to get the win.

Syracuse:
Andy Rautins had a great game, putting up 26 points, including the two free throws to ice the game. He was the only player for the Orange who was scoring as the Hoyas were making their run, and he showed that he was the leader of the team.

Coaches

The Hoyas missed a chance to take the lead with under a minute to go, which meant Syracuse had the ball up one with about 41 seconds left in the game. Coach Thompson elected not to foul and play defense. Unfortunately, the Orange were able to run off valuable seconds and still get the basket, scoring with nine seconds to play, making it that much more difficult for the Hoyas to complete the improbable comeback. It’s a tough decision, but I probably would have elected to foul, seeing as Syracuse has not been a great free throw shooting team this season.

Fans

There were way too many Syracuse fans at the game for my tastes, and they were very loud for most of the first half. However, as Georgetown attempted to get back in the game, the Hoya fans started making a lot of noise, spurring their team on. In the end, the Hoyas would come up short, but the Georgetown fans did all they could to help.

Number of the Game

27: Made free throws for the Orange. Syracuse entered the game shooting just 65.8% from the stripe, but connected on 90% of their attempts in this one. Georgetown was only 66.7% from the free throw line, and that may have made all the difference in the game.