The Magnificent Seven: Georgetown 64, Syracuse 56

Georgetown’s back was against the wall Wednesday night, trailing to a top-15 opponent in front of a hostile crowd of 30,000-plus with six minutes remaining. The Hoyas had squandered a second-half lead, the Syracuse crowd had awakened, and the Orange seemed to have weathered foul trouble just in time for the stretch run. But then the Hoyas, not the Orange, buckled down. Georgetown held Syracuse without a field goal over the final six minutes, closing the game on a 15-3 to run in which seemingly every Hoya contributed a bucket, and juicing/crushing/metaphoring the Orange, 64-56. Georgetown’s seventh straight win was a truly team effort, with four Hoyas registering double-figure points while another, Chris Wright, notched nine assists. While wins over Missouri and Villanova provided more last-minute tension, no win was more heartening than a victory over the Hoyas’ arch rival, in the Carrier Dome, where they had not won since the Esherick era, and where they seemingly reversed the momentum in crunch time.

Some post-game thoughts:

Player of the Game. It’s virtually impossible to choose one player’s performance, but Wright, while off from the field, was magnificent, dishing out nine assists against just one turnover, while doing everything that was asked of him to beat the Syracuse zone. He put everything he had into the game, actually blocking Syracuse big man Rick Jackson’s shot in the waning moments. We saw the best of Wright Wednesday night, as he moved seamlessly through the Syracuse zone, found open teammates, played dogged defense, grabbed a clutch offensive rebound to seal the Hoya victory, and exhibited the leadership we’ve all come to expect.

Role Player of the Game. Markel Starks. The freshman picked the perfect game to have his best performance of the season. In extended first-half action, Starks moved the ball crisply against the Syracuse zone, buried a deep three, and completed a tough and-one on a fast-break lay-up off of a feed from Wright. He finished with a career-high six points, and gave Hoya fans optimism about the backcourt’s future.

Teammates of the Game. A lame but necessary heading to acknowledge that, while Wright and Starks were terrific, so, too, were several other Hoyas. There was Julian Vaughn, who took advantage of Jackson’s second-half foul trouble to pour in 12 points and snag 8 rebounds, establishing an inside presence that freed up Georgetown’s perimeter shooters.  Then, Hollis Thompson, whose 11 points on 3 of 3 from deep were made possible by Vaughn’s play inside, and were capped by a beautiful trey that tied the game at 55. Thompson has shown no ill effects or ill temper in his four games coming off the bench, and his contributions Wednesday were indispensable. Also, Austin Freeman, whose 14 points were topped off by a sneaky lay-in in, right after Thompson’s three and subsequent steal, in which Freeman got in behind the Syracuse defense, then finished a beautiful full-court feed from Wright, to make the score 57-55. And don’t forget Jason Clark, whose 12 points were finished off by six straight that put the two-point game out of reach.

Key Stretch. The finishing push was the evidence of Georgetown’s experience that we’ve been waiting for all season. In three straight games, the Hoyas had nearly blown double-digit leads that totaled 40 points. Georgetown’s seeming inability to nip an opponent’s run in the bud was the one smudge on the winning streak. Wednesday, even that objection fell silent. The Hoyas closed out the win with authority, forcing bad shots on defense, generating turnovers, and attacking the Orange’s zone instead of waiting for the opponent to come to them.  (Honorable mention goes to a stretch early in the second half in which Georgetown scored on three straight possessions to turn a six-point deficit into a two-point lead.)

Stats of the Game. Three winners, here. First, Georgetown won the rebounding battle, getting 10 offensive rebounds to Syracuse’s 10 while grabbing seven more on the defensive end. The Orange thrive on the offensive boards, and Georgetown battled them to a draw, largely thanks to Jackson’s aforementioned foul trouble. (It should be noted, lest the importance of the Orange’s fouls be overstated that: both teams finished with 17 personal fouls; Syracuse shot five more free throws than Georgetown; both teams’ featured big man finished with four fouls; and the Hoyas’ clinching and convincing run occurred with all of the principals on the court.) Second, the Hoyas forced 14 turnovers while committing just 13. An annual Hoya bugaboo is turnover rate: Georgetown gives the ball away far more than it takes it away. Wednesday, that was not the case. Finally, as mentioned in the pre-game Sneak Peek, in each of Syracuse’s four losses, the victor shot at least fifty percent from two-point range while nailing at least forty percent from three. Wednesday, the Hoyas made 43 percent from three and exactly half of their shots from inside the arc.  How?

Trend of the Game. Georgetown beat the zone. Syracuse’s defense isn’t what it was last year, but it’s still formidable. Coach Magoo teaches the zone better than anyone, and recruits players with the lengthy reaches to shut off opponents’ passing lanes. Wednesday, the Hoyas showed the patient aggression necessary to dissect the 2-3. Sending cutters into the middle of the lane and along the baseline, Georgetown found the holes in the zone, then the open shooters, whether on the perimeter or inside. Adapting Georgetown’s unique offense to combat a zone defense hasn’t been easy, but Wednesday, the Hoyas proved it’s possible. Georgetown had an astounding 20 assists on 24 made baskets (wait, why wasn’t that the stat of the game?!), evidence of beautiful teamwork in a difficult environment.

Conclusion. Georgetown has won seven straight games in the toughest conference in basketball. The Hoyas have beaten two top-15 teams on the road, and another at home. They’ve weathered tough road arenas and forty-point explosions. Yet, every run needs a bit of luck, there’s been the sense Georgetown has had its share during this streak: three of the seven wins have been by one possession; Marshon Brooks lost his footing in the waning seconds; and comebacks by Louisville and Villanova also came up a minute short. Wednesday, luck played a role, too, as the officials whistled a close game, to Jackson’s detriment. But Wednesday was more than just dumb luck. The Hoyas’ steely defense holding Syracuse under 40 percent from the field, Thompson’s icy veins off to drain a three off of a perfect set-up, Freeman’s heady run-out, Wright’s gorgeous full-court pass to feed him, Vaughn’s precision bounce-pass to meet Clark’s crafty back-door cut–all were the product of poised teamwork, the kind that’s tough to find on the road, and that doesn’t appear by accident.

The schedule doesn’t let us to savor the win for too long. Ahead lie six more tests in the regular season, starting with Sunday’s match-up with Marquette, whose 15-9 record is a poor indicator of how tough they’ve played their opponents this year. After that, a (hopefully) long weekend in New York, followed by (also, hopefully) tournament games.

The Hoyas have reentered the conference race. After Louisville’s loss at Notre Dame and Rutgers’s miraculous win over Villanova, in sole possession of third place in the conference (although tied with the Cardinals, Wildcats, and Connecticut in the loss column). They’re a long way from 1-4 in conference, but still a long way from where they’d like to end up.

More to follow later, but in the meantime check out the box score here.