Recapping Georgetown at Syracuse

It took overtime to settle this one


By Shane McCarthy on February 8, 2012

When a team is on the road at their rival, out rebounds them by almost 20, is never down my more than six and holds that opponent scoreless in the remaining 4:37 of regulation, you would hope they would win the game.  But Georgetown was only able to force overtime and was never able to contain Kris Joseph.

Kris Joseph was the only player in uniform on either team that played every minute of the game along with being the leading scorer of the game, 29, including five of the Orange's nine points in OT.  This is the kind of game that Syracuse has been waiting for out of Joseph and it took their biggest rival to do it.  But what better time than tonight, a game that was dominated defensively on both ends of the floor not allowing either team to ever go on a run to gain separation.

When it comes to defensive efficiency Syracuse and Georgetown are ranked 15th and 6th respectively, according to kenpom.com.  That was on display tonight with both teams utilizing effective zones limiting each other to contested shots all night.  While both teams almost shot identically from the field (Cuse 34.9% and G'town 33.3%), Syracuse was the team that was able to get better looks.  They were the more willing team to pump fake to dribble drive and either kick it out to the wings or dump it down low for more efficient shots.  Georgetown, especially in the first half, was settling for long contested shots because they were content on just swinging it around the perimeter until they got a 'decent' look.

When looking at the box score it seems like a no-brainer that Georgetown should have won this game.  Georgetown out-rebounded Syracuse by 18!  Syracuse is especially poor (and the word 'poor' is an understatement) at letting up offensive rebounds where they rank 338 out of 339 in the nation.  There is actually still room for them to get worse.  They let up 20 offensive rebounds in this game alone.  But somehow both teams took the exact same amount of shots from the field, 63.  And both teams even went to the line the same amount of times, 16; with Georgetown making 14 compared to Syracuse's 12.  One would think that Syracuse made up for this by forcing turnovers, but they only forced five more turnovers than the Hoyas.

Georgetown's struggles came in the form of foul trouble.  Jason Clark and Henry Sims both missed a considerable amount of the second half as both picked up their third foul within the first minute of the half.  If Henry Sims and Otto Porter (who had a great game and who is really becoming a force) are able to be on the floor together for more of the game, Georgetown probably wins.  But that wasn't the case, and though this game showed that Georgetown is for real, they didn't do enough to get what's most important, a victory.

As for the team that ended up victorious, the Syracuse Orange, they can't be too thrilled with this win.  All wins are good, but when you get that dominated on the boards - you must be concerned.  For a team that hasn't been to the Sweet 16 since 2003, this could have the makings of another early exit to an inferior opponent in March.  But the good news for Syracuse is that it's only February 8th and they are flaunting a 24-1 record, they have one of the best coaches of all time, and they have a deep and experienced team.  For a team that is 24-2 and is ranked #2 in the country, I think it is pretty scary that they have so much room to improve, and I expect them to do just that over the course of the next month.

This may have been the last time (and by last time I mean at least until the conferences are re-aligned again a decade from now to make even more money) that Syracuse and Georgetown faced-off in conference play.  Both teams nearly matched each other shot for shot as neither team could go on a run, and these are two teams that depend on quick runs.  But defensively, it was a well-played game and it was fitting that it took overtime to decide it.  These are two of college basketball's best who have the makeup for a deep run in March.

@shane_t_mac