Teams

Georgetown:
This is a game the Hoyas must forget quickly. They played well for the first few minutes but then completely fell apart. Very little good can come from harping on this loss; the team has to pick themselves up and move on.

Syracuse:
Credit to the Orange, they did not get flustered when they found themselves in a 14-0 hole early on. The kept to their game plan, and eventually their defense began forcing turnovers which led to easy baskets. And once they got the Hoyas rattled, they went for the jugular.

Players

Georgetown:
Austin Freeman started the game with three threes in a row, and ended with 23 points. And while he did not have a great game percentage-wise, no one for the Hoyas did, and Freeman’s 23 were more than 40% of Georgetown’s offense.

Syracuse:
Andy Rautins was instrumental in the Syracuse come back, as he gets a lot of steals playing at the top of the Syracuse zone, and he is very good at finding the open man in transition. He ended the game with 15 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals.

Referees

The officials had very little impact on the game, but I was a little frustrated by their inconsistency. By the referees’ reckoning, Syracuse committed only one foul in the first half (an over-the-back), but then five in the first 5:44 of the second half. It was inconsistent officiating; I guess we are lucky that the score was never close enough for the refereeing to matter.

Fans

The Carrier Dome can be a very tough place to play, and you could see why in this game. Even when their side was down early, the fans were still loud and supportive. And once the Orange started rolling, the noise level only increased. There is something to be said for a large, on-campus arena, which is one advantage Georgetown has never had.

Number of the Game

19: Turnovers for the Hoyas. After an encouraging start, Georgetown began to get lazy with passes, and against the Syracuse zone, that will always spells disaster, and tonight was no exception.