6 days Ago
Syracuse guard Elijah Moore tries to score against Georgetown in Saturday's game at the JMA Wireless Dome.Dennis Nett | [email protected] dennis nett | dnett@syracuse.
com Mike Waters | [email protected] Syracuse, N.Y.
– Ed Cooley didn’t know if Jim Boeheim was smiling or scowling, but the specter of Syracuse’s former Hall of Fame coach hung over Saturday’s Syracuse-Georgetown showdown like the ghost of Christmas past. Boeheim wasn’t at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday for the 100th meeting between Syracuse and Georgetown; the two former Big East rivals now separated for 10 years after the Orange’s most to the ACC and seeing each other only once a year as non-conference foes. He wasn’t there to see the Hoyas beat Syracuse, 75-71, or to see Georgetown to do by using a zone defense.
“I know Coach Boeheim,’’ Cooley said. “Coach Boeheim is either clapping or he’s cussing me out.’’ Cooley understood the bitter irony of a Georgetown team coming into the Dome and employing a zone defense to beat Syracuse.
The game itself embodied some of the same chippiness and trash-talk that has been a feature of this rival going back to 1980 when John Thompson taunted SU fans with his “Manley Field is officially closed’' comment after the Hoyas had beaten Syracuse in the last game at the old barn at the corner of Colvin and Comstock. Thompson would have shared a hug with the old Dome Ranger before going to a zone. But Cooley did.
He went zone in the first half and then went back to it in the second. A zone defense. The defense that became synonymous with Boeheim.
The defense he relied on almost exclusively over the last 20 years of his 47-year career. “Changing defenses was something that we definitely wanted to do,’’ Cooley said. “Ironically to a zone; to a zone here at Cuse.
Interesting.’’ Georgetown’s zone was not a surprise to Syracuse. “Every game, they go 2- 2-1 or 1- 2-2, they can play a 2-3,’’ SU coach Adrian Autry said.
“We have been very good against the zone. Today, we didn’t make the shots that we needed to make that we normally make.’’ In truth, Georgetown had to go to the zone.
When the Hoyas were in man-to-man, especially in the first half, Syracuse had too much success getting the ball inside to 255-pound center Eddie Lampkin or bruising power forward Jyare Davis. Georgetown’s bigs; Drew Fielder, Thomas Sorber and Jordan Burks, were collecting fouls like they were on a buy-one, get one free sale. When Cooley switched into the zone in the first half, Syracuse attacked it as other teams had attacked the Orange’s zone over the years.
Autry had Davis, a muscular 6-foot-7 senior, flash to the free throw line where he lofted soft jumpers, powered his way to the rim or dropped the ball to Lampkin in the low post. Davis scored 11 points in the first half, while Lampkin chipped in with 10. They were a combined 7-for-12 from the field and 7-for-10 at the foul line.
Cooley and his staff tweaked the zone at halftime. “I thought our coaches did a really good job taking some things away,’’ Cooley said. “When you’re playing in these zones, what are they trying to do? Right? “So there’s designated players that are going to get the ball in certain spots,’’ he continued.
“We wanted to make sure we had high demand on those spots with some of our longer athletes.’’ The Hoyas paid more attention to Davis. The Syracuse forward didn’t have room to breathe; much less maneuver with the ball.
Georgetown sagged off Syracuse’s Jaquan Carlos and Lucas Taylor. And they surrounded Lampkin whenever he got the ball. Although Lampkin scored eight points in the second half, he only got four shots.
He didn’t go to the foul line at all. Davis scored four second-half points on 1-for-4 shooting. “I think we kept trying to do the same thing as the first half,’’ Davis said after his 15-point, 6-rebound performance.
“I had some success getting in the middle and making that jump shot or being able to pass out of it. “In the second half,’’ he added, “they did a good job of when I got in the middle making sure the shot wasn’t open and then doing a good job of fading out when I got in the middle.’’ Syracuse’s shooting numbers in the second half were similar to the Orange’s first half stats – 42 percent field goal shooting, 2-for-8 3-point shooting in both halves.
But the Georgetown zone forced the Orange into a crucial cold spell late in the game. Trailing 64-58 with eight minutes to play, Georgetown’s zone limited Syracuse to just seven points down the stretch. After Syracuse to a 69-67 lead on a Jaquan Carlos 3-pointer with 4:13 remaining, the Orange wouldn’t make another shot.
“I’ll just say they just executed the zone better than they did at the beginning,’’ Lampkin said. “We were trying to get it inside, but we did, we came short.’’ In those crucial final minutes, Syracuse guard Elijah Moore missed a driving layup, Davis missed a shot in the paint, then Georgetown center Thomas Sorber blocked a shot by Davis.
Suddenly, Georgetown had a 72-69 lead with under two minutes to go. Autry, looking for offense, inserted Donnie Freeman and Chris Bell back into the game. Moore missed a 3-pointer, then Freeman missed a trey that could’ve tied the game.
Instead, Georgetown got the rebound. Syracuse fouled Jayden Epps, who clinched the game with a pair of free throws. “You know, we just didn’t score what we needed to score,’’ Autry said.
“That was the difference.’’ Contact Mike Waters anytime: Email | Twitter Stories by Mike Waters Georgetown’s late surge lifts Hoyas over Syracuse at JMA Dome As the Syracuse-Georgetown rivalry marks its 100th edition, what does the rivalry need to burn hotter? Syracuse, Georgetown renew rivalry in search of resume-building win; plus 4 more things to know How are Syracuse’s Eddie Lampkin and others in their 5th year of college basketball? (Mike’s Mailbox).
