On an emotional Senior Day, with their leader sidelined by an injury, and in front of a record home crowd, the script was set for Georgetown to pull off a storybook comeback against their archrival. But there was no Hollywood ending for the Hoyas, as the absence of Chris Wright proved too much to overcome.
Syracuse (24-6, 11-6 Big East) prevailed 58-51 as Georgetown (21-8, 10-7 Big East) faltered in the clutch. The normally sharp-shooting Hoyas saw their hands go cold for the second game in the row in front of a crowd of 20,276, the most ever for a Georgetown game at the Verizon Center.
The Hoyas shot just 36 percent from the field, including 28 percent on three-pointers, compared to their season average of 48.9 percent. Georgetown failed to shoot over Syracuse’s stifling zone, but what killed the Hoyas was their inability to convert on the few occasions when they did penetrate the defense.
“We missed some easy buckets that when you’re playing against them, when you get it in there you can’t miss those,” head coach John Thompson III said. “We got what we wanted, but the ball didn’t go in.”
It goes without saying that the Hoyas missed the presence of Wright, the team’s second leading scorer and emotional leader. His teammates couldn’t replace his ball handling and passing ability (16 turnovers), and they couldn’t fill the scoring void either.
“Obviously Chris Wright not playing is a huge, huge thing,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “I hope he’s alright. I hope he can come back, because Georgetown is obviously one of the best teams in our league with him playing.”
Without Wright playing, the Hoyas were mediocre. They managed to hang with the Orange for most of the game, but there was no one who could step up and put the Hoyas over the top.
Playing in his last home game as a Hoya, senior guard Austin Freeman led the team in scoring as usual with 16 points, but connect on just two of his nine three-point attempts. More disappointing was his classmate Julian Vaughn, who racked up seven boards and three blocks, but went 0-for-3 from the field.
“[Vaughn] was effective tonight on the defensive end I thought,” Thompson said. “But at the offensive end the ball didn’t go in the basket.”
Vaughn was hardly expected to be a major offensive threat, however. The most likely candidate to pick up the bulk of Wright’s scoring was Hollis Thompson, who started in place of the senior. The sophomore had a night to forget, shooting 0-for-5 from the field and scoring just three points.
Scoop Jardine paced the Orange with 17 points and seven assists. The junior guard crushed the Hoyas’ hope for a comeback again and again, burying a number of shots whenever Georgetown began to rally in the second half.
“He managed the game for them. He controlled the game for them,” Coach Thompson said of Jardine. “When we made a run, he answered with a couple key baskets.”
Down by as much as 12 points early in the second half, the Hoyas made a run halfway through the period that gave them their only lead after the opening minute. With just over ten minutes to play, freshman Nate Lubick hit two lay-ups in succession to first tie the game and then give Georgetown a two-point lead. The near-capacity crowd erupted with their loudest cheers of the game, but they couldn’t anticipate what was to come.
Over the final ten minutes of the game the Hoyas lost all their momentum, hitting just one of 12 field goal attempts before the buzzer. They managed to stick with the Orange thanks to their defense, and were in position to tie the game down three with less than a minute to play.
Coming out of a timeout, Freeman got the ball, drove, and kicked out to an open Jason Clark in the corner. His window closed quickly, however, as Syracuse jumped out and got a hand on the ball.
“Rick Jackson got a piece of it,” Clark said. “Austin drove and made a good play. He made a good read and I was open for a second. [Jackson] made a good play and tipped it.”
After that, Syracuse guard hit four free throws to close out the game and send the Hoya seniors home with a loss in their final game at the Verizon Center.
The loss dropped the Hoyas to eighth in the conference standings, just one spot removed from losing a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament. The standings are sure to be in flux, with nine teams separated by just two games, but whether Georgetown wins or loses its season finale against Cincinnati next Saturday will determine which half of the conference it finishes in.
Georgetown will be happy to have a week off before travelling to Cincinnati after having to face the Orange on a short turnaround. The layoff should give the Hoyas a better chance to adjust to playing without Wright, who isn’t expected to rejoin the team until the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the earliest.
In the meantime, the Hoyas aren’t losing confidence. They face an uphill battle while their point guard is sidelined, but they’re prepared for the climb.
“You have two days to get ready for this game [without Wright],” Thompson said. “I’m not trying to look for something good here, but we responded. It’s not like we took a woe is me attitude. We fought, we scrapped, we got back in it. We came out on the losing end, but whether Chris is out there or when Chris gets back, until then, we’re going to figure this out.”
