Syracuse vs Georgetown Game Recap

Syracuse 75, Georgetown 71

Almost doesn't count. Then again, maybe it does.

If you're the team that tries to come from behind the way the Georgetown Hoyas did on Thursday night in Washington, D.C., the notion of coming close really can't be too satisfying. If you're the team that holds a big lead the way the Syracuse Orange did at the Verizon Center, the idea of nearly blowing a massive advantage doesn't feel very bothersome.

That's what life is like when two teams own proud basketball pedigrees. Certain programs aim for newfound respect and visibility, but for these storied Big East rivals, the only prizes that matter are wins and the championships that flow from them. This cultural reality shapes the way in which the latest Georgetown-Syracuse game should be assessed.

Syracuse might have been coming off a shocking Sunday loss to Louisville, but the Orange entered this encounter without a road or neutral-court loss to their credit. Sure, coach Jim Boeheim's club - which bolted to a 15-3 lead against Georgetown and later acquired a 60-37 bulge with 12:37 left in the second half - couldn't have been too pleased that it allowed the Hoyas to pull within one point (71-70) with 1:10 remaining in regulation. However, by hanging on for dear life... and a four-point triumph... Syracuse remained spotless away from the Carrier Dome. More importantly, by winning a game Villanova couldn't, the 'Cuse took a half-game lead in the Big East standings and gained considerable leverage in the race for the league's regular season title. A near-loss just doesn't matter for a team with Syracuse's championship ambitions. Banners either get hung from the rafters or they don't, and this game was being played for a banner, not to mention a No. 1 seed in both the Big East and NCAA postseason tournaments.

Georgetown - which shaved 22 points off the 23-point deficit it faced - can feel a little encouraged by its display of resilience against a top 5 national opponent, but the Hoyas really won't acquire much satisfaction from their almost-completed comeback. Georgetown has beaten several top 25 foes in 2009 and 2010, which is another way of saying that coach John Thompson III has a team that is used to playing in and winning big games. Coming close just doesn't create a feeling of satisfaction in the GU locker room, nor should it. Georgetown has dropped games to the likes of Rutgers and South Florida during this Big East season, so the failure to top the leading team in the conference will cut deep in D.C.

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In fact, the element of this agonizing loss that will sting the most for Georgetown - coaches, players and fans alike - is the way the Hoyas treated the most important possession of the night.

With just over a minute left and GU in possession of the ball after Hoya big man Greg Monroe wrested a missed free throw from two Syracuse defenders, Georgetown - down 71-70 - had a chance to take its first lead of the game. Since Syracuse's two starting bigs - Rich Jackson and Arinze Onuaku - had both fouled out, Monroe figured to have easy pickings in the paint. Yet, the Hoyas somehow failed to give Monroe so much as a touch of the basketball, and GU guard Jason Clark hoisted up a missed three that bounced out of bounds.

On the ensuing Syracuse possession, Orange forward Kris Joseph drove the ball strong to the basket for a layup and a 73-70 lead. When Boeheim ordered his team to foul Georgetown in the final seconds, the Hoyas couldn't tie with a three and never got a chance to send the game into overtime. Yes, Georgetown made a nice little comeback, but Syracuse won and reasserted itself as the beast of the Big East.

So many stories could have emerged from one of the wildest yet most significant college basketball games of the 2010 regular season. On some occasions, many different lessons can be learned from a high-stakes showdown, especially when conference and postseason tournaments loom in the not-too-distant future. On one evening, however, the prevailing sense at the end of a 40-minute fistfight was simply that Syracuse did what it set out to do.  Georgetown, on the other hand, came up short.

By: Matt Zemek
BigEast-Fans.com Correspondent