With both Georgetown and Syracuse potentially playing to keep their tournament hopes alive, it should come as no surprise that the two rivals go into the break separated by just one point.
Plenty of storylines in this one. The first for Georgetown was obviously the shift in the starting lineup, with John Thompson III replacing Nikita Mescheriakov replacing Jessie Sapp. Mescheriakov wasn’t particularly effective, but he continued to contribute the energy and the hustle plays that have earned him his playing time.
It wouldn’t be Georgetown-Syracuse without some confrontation and controversy, and we got both at the eight minute mark. After a Syracuse miss, Hoya junior DaJuan Summers was in position for the rebound when he took a hard elbow to the back of the head from the Orange’s Kristof Ongenaet. After about three minutes of review the officials called it a flagrant technical and Ongenaet was ejected.
Both teams got themselves going on the strength of outside sharpshooting. Syracuse’s Andy Rautins leads all scorers with 11 points, including 3-of-6 from three. Georgetown also jumped out to a quick lead on consecutive threes from Austin Freeman and Summers.
Chris Wright has probably been the Hoyas most important player so far. He’s 4-of-6 with nine points, including a couple of difficult drives when Georgetown really needed a basket. He also has three assists.
The second half just got underway, and fans should be in for a treat if both teams keep up their quality of play.
Aditi Kinkhabwala has written a regular column for SI.com and been published in Sports Illustrated.