Georgetown 89 - Syracuse 79: Hoyas cruise past Orange in old Big East matchup

Washington, D.C. — It was an old Big East rivalry renewed at Capital One Arena as the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team traveled down to Washington to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Ultimately, Syracuse squandered its final chance at a quality non-conference win, falling to the Hoyas 89-79 behind Mac McClung’s 26 points.

Jim Boeheim made no changes to his starting lineup, rolling with Joe Girard, Buddy Boeheim, Elijah Hughes, Marek Dolezaj and Bourama Sidibe.

Both teams started out hot from the field as Terrell Allen got things started for the Hoyas with a two and Hughes answered on the other end from three. A pair of Georgetown 3s allowed the Hoyas to regain control and allowed a 10-8 Hoyas lead at the first media timeout.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Georgetown continued to shoot the ball well throughout the half as the Orange 2-3 zone gave up open looks from the perimeter. Jagan Mosley got it going from range for Georgetown, but so did Elijah Hughes for Syracuse. Marek Dolezaj also began to work inside to cut into Georgetown’s lead at the second media timeout, 21-18.

Howard Washington and Quincy Guerrier were first off the bench for Syracuse, but Guerrier picked up two quick fouls and was supplanted by Jesse Edwards.

After a continued back and forth on both ends, the most heated moment of the half occurred when Marek Dolezaj was whistled for a block on Mac McClung. Dolezaj slammed the ball to the ground. Jim Boeheim, immediately turning red, let the official know how he felt about it and the Syracuse bench was given a technical foul.

Marek Dolezaj picked up three first half fouls, the third forced him to sit after this call.

Georgetown would add to its lead without Dolezaj in the game and Mac McClung nailed a deep three heading into halftime to add insult to injury. McClung had 21 points at the break and Georgetown led 48-36.

Out of the intermission, Joe Girard knocked down his third three of the game and Buddy Boeheim made his first. Georgetown answered behind the efforts of Allen, Omer Yurtseven and McClung. Hughes only took one shot in the first 11 minutes of the second half. The 2-3 zone continued to struggle throughout and Georgetown controlled the glass to boot.

Buddy Boeheim was able to turn it around in the second half after not scoring in the first. Hughes went cold when he did get shots, but the younger Boeheim kept this game from becoming a complete blowout as he made seven 3s in the second half.

Even with Buddy’s shooting, the 2-3 zone yielded open looks as Georgetown was determined to get the ball in the middle. Syracuse gave up clean looks from the perimeter and Jahvon Blair joined the 3-point party late. The Orange went to the press, but to no avail.

Boeheim fouled out late to Georgetown cheers of “Nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye.” Syracuse couldn’t get stops it needed down the stretch and never got within three possessions.

Final Stats

Mac McClung led all scorers with 26 points while Yurtseven had 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Buddy Boeheim finished with 25 points on seven made 3s, all in the second half.

Hughes had 21 points, while Girard had 16.

Dolezaj had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

Georgeotwn had 41 rebounds in the game Syracuse had 29.

Next up

Syracuse returns home for five straight. The next three games close out the non-conference schedule. The Orange will play Oakland on Wednesday. That game tips at 8 p.m. ET from the Carrier Dome and will air on ESPNU.

For Syracuse basketball stories and updates, follow us on twitter @NunesMagician and @JamesSzuba