WASHINGTON — One week after tying its best offensive output of the season, Syracuse lost 89-79 to Georgetown on Saturday afternoon in Capital One Arena. Buddy Boeheim, who didn’t score in the first half, led all scorers with 25 points while Elijah Hughes added 21. For the Hoyas, sophomore guard Mac McClung scored 26 points while center Omer Yurtseven added 19 points and nine rebounds. 

Below are three takeaways from the Syracuse (5-5, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) loss. 

A zone with holes 

The obvious soft spot in the Syracuse zone, the high post area, was exploited to no end on Saturday. Georgetown repeatedly hammered the ball in between the top two men of the zone with a bounce pass. From there, the options were plentiful and all of them led to points. 

A Hoyas player, sometimes a streaking guard in Terell Allen, would either pull up for a jump shot, or force the defense to collapse around him. Wherever the pressure came from, the Hoyas sent the ball in that direction for open 3-pointers or easy buckets from the wing. 

Georgetown finished 11-of-25 from 3-point land including a 4-of-5 start to the game that boosted its first half scoring.

When the Orange attempted to mount a comeback late in the second half, they shifted to a full court press, a defense Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has noted in the past is not a strength for this team. The ball whipped through the mid-court, with nothing but a Syracuse foul stopping the charing Hoyas. The plays often ended with a few passes and a Yurtseven dunk or Hoyas free throws.

Big Mac

Georgetown separated from Syracuse at the end of the first half behind a string of points from McClung. The 6-foot-2 guard ran free in the fast break for several layups off Syracuse turnovers. Then, as Georgetown possessed the ball with less than 10 seconds remaining, McClung pulled up from beyond the arc with a Syracuse defender in his face and swished a 3-pointer. 

With his tongue hanging out of his mouth and fans screaming, McClung looked toward the bench and pointed down on the court in celebration. 

In need of help

Throughout the first half, Syracuse just needed another scorer. As he’d done against Georgia Tech, Hughes scored seemingly at will, hitting turnaround and mid-range jumpers, and 3-pointers, when Syracuse needed baskets. 

But through one half of play, Elijah Hughes had 18 points and no other Syracuse player had double-digit points. While Hughes kept Syracuse in the game, no other Orange player helped push past Georgetown. 

The misses came from several areas, and sometimes were mishaps before the ball went toward the basket. On one play, Howard Washington threw the ball to where he though Joe Girard III would be – but wasn’t – and the pass sailed out of bounds. On another, Buddy committed an offensive foul. A couple Girard drives to the basket resulted in turnovers and not the fouls the Syracuse bench pleaded for. 

In the second half, Buddy’s shots started to fall. He converted on 7-of-13 3-pointers, many with a defender in his face from the wing. What started as a Hughes shooting brigade turned into an offense finding ways for Buddy to score.

But by the time Syracuse found its scoring touch, it was too late. The press was weak and Georgetown couldn’t be stopped. 

Published on December 14, 2019 at 3:32 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44