Coach John Thompson III’s Princeton offense is renowned for its ability to pick apart man-to-man coverage with impressive back-door cuts. Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse teams have always been devoted to zone defense, an approach which has stifled the Hoya’s inside attack in recent years.
That does not mean the zone is impenetrable; indeed, it can be broken with good passing and open shots from the perimeter. But the Hoyas came into Wednesday night’s game shooting only 27.5 percent from beyond the arc in their last three games.
So it would seem the No. 8 Orange, perhaps the most talented Syracuse team Georgetown might face in the JTIII era, were poised to give the Hoyas a lot of problems at the Verizon Center Wednesday night.
Not even close.
Georgetown (12-3, 3-2 BE) handily defeated their rival 88-74, dealing Syracuse its first Big East loss of the season.
The key was the Hoyas’ resurgent three-point shooting. They finished 12-of-21 from long distance, at an astonishing 57 percent. Sophomore Austin Freeman led the shooting barrage, draining 4-of-5 from behind the arc and scoring 19 points.
“We put the ball in the basket,” Thompson said. “We did a very good job, I thought, of throwing it in, throwing it back out, getting penetration, throwing it opposite. They were the kind of the threes that tend to go in more often.”
Freeman, who had shot just 1-of-10 from long range in the first four Big East games, rediscovered his shot and his confidence. Many of his makes came from deep behind the three-point line, including one on which he was fouled and converted a four-point play.
“Everybody was just knocking down shots,” Freeman said. “In practice that’s what we’ve been working on pretty much—shooting the ball—because we knew they were going to be in that zone.”
In the beginning, this match-up looked like it would be the closely fought battle most expected. Syracuse answered an early Georgetown run and remained within three points of the Hoyas as late as the 9:42 mark in the first half.
But from there the Hoyas kicked off what proved to be a 17-1 run.
More surprising than Georgetown’s sudden dominance was its catalyst, seldom-used sophomore forward Nikita Mescheriakov. In his only two minutes of action, Mescheriakov hit back-to-back threes and dove on a loose ball in the subsequent play, leading to another Georgetown score.
“Nikita comes in, and he’s been a little bit of a deer in the headlights,” Thompson said. “All of a sudden he’s been shooting the ball really well. He had a couple of good practices, so I said let’s just throw him in there.”
The Hoyas got important contributions from every player in their rotation, and all 10 players who saw the court scored. Depth has been an area of criticism for this Georgetown team all season, but it proved a major strength against the Orange. The top contributor from the bench was freshman guard Jason Clark, who scored a career-high 12 points in his 26 minutes on the hardwood.
“It carries over from practice. I’m a hard worker. It’s a lot with my teammates, too. They push me to be the best,” Clark said of his development. “I’m a lot more comfortable now.”
Opening the second half down 50-32, Syracuse looked poised to make a comeback, breaking out with an 8-0 run. But the Hoyas did not get flustered and readjusted after missing their opening shots to finish 14-of-24 from the field in the second half.
“They looked like they were starting to gain some momentum,” Thompson said. “We were able to settle in and then get back on track. We were focused and attentive even though we weren’t putting the ball in the basket.”
The leadership of junior DaJuan Summers kept the Hoyas composed on the floor. The 6’8” forward led all scorers with 21 points and also reigned in four rebounds and three blocks. His intensity ultimately drove Georgetown to victory.
“I’m just trying to be aggressive, and trying to do what the team needs me to in order for us to win,” Summers said.
At one point in the first half, Summers’ aggression got the better of him. He was intentionally fouled while putting down a dunk on a fast break and earned a technical foul for his ensuing outburst.
The usually mild-tempered Thompson said he was “livid” at Summers for the mental lapse. But in the second half, JTIII picked up a technical of his own.
“[Summers] comes over to me and tells me to calm down,” Thompson joked after the game. “He enjoyed doing that, too.”
Thompson could afford to take the technicals lightly because the Orange were abysmal from the free throw line. Syracuse finished 10-of-23 from the line, just 43.5 percent.
The Orange still managed to score from the field, however. The team had four players in double figures, including Eric Devendorf off the bench with 20 points. Paul Harris recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
With his teammates shooting the lights out, Greg Monroe had a relatively quiet night, though the impressive freshman phenom still managed to post 10 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. But Monroe was only 3-of-8 from the field and was stopped trying to drive inside a number of times.
Eighty-eight points is the most any JTIII-led team has scored in a Big East game, and Georgetown led the Orange for the entire game.
“It’s a good rivalry. We do get up for those guys because we know they get up for us,” Summers said.
Georgetown cannot revel in its victory for long, though—the Hoyas travel to Duke this Saturday to take on the No. 2 ranked Blue Devils. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
