Every dollar donated during December will go directly toward paying students to produce stories like this one. Give now and ensure a brighter future for The Daily Orange.

After leading former Big East foes Villanova at halftime, the Orange eventually stumbled in the second half to the No. 6 Wildcats’ 41 second half points. Syracuse now travels from Madison Square Garden to Washington to take on another old foe from the Big East — Georgetown. 

Head coach Jim Boeheim is 3-1 against the Hoyas since Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing took over as head coach. Boeheim’s only loss came two years ago in Washington. Here’s everything you need to know about Georgetown (4-4) before Syracuse (5-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) finishes a three-game road trip in the nation’s capital: 

All-time Series

Syracuse leads 52-44.

Last time they played

The longtime Big East rivals played earlier this year on Jan. 9 in Syracuse. After not playing Georgetown in the 2020 calendar year, Syracuse welcomed the old rivals back to Central New York. The Orange used a balanced scoring attack to top Georgetown with four out of the five starters for SU finishing with double-digit points — Alan Griffin was one point away with nine.

Buddy Boeheim and Joseph Girard III caught fire from deep, combining 6-for-10 on their attempts. Buddy led the team with 21 points, with Girard a close second scoring 18 of his own. Those 18 points propelled Girard to 500 career points for the Orange. Quincy Guerrier almost had a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Marek Dolzeaj tacked on 11 more points for SU.

KenPom odds

KenPom gives Syracuse a 55% chance of winning with a projected score of 78-77. 

The Georgetown report

The former Syracuse rivals have not been up to par so far this season. The Hoyas opened their season with a 69-60 loss to Dartmouth. At one point, Dartmouth led 36-14 in the first half before the Hoyas grabbed hold of the game in the second half. Still, Dartmouth pulled away for the victory. 

Georgetown managed to notch two wins this season — one against fellow Washington, D.C., school American University and then Siena College. But the Hoyas were then blown out by San Diego State 73-56. In the second half, they couldn’t keep up with the Aztecs, who went on a run of 15-1 near the end of the game.

Apart from the Aztecs, Ewing’s team has yet to face an opponent of Syracuse’s caliber this season. However, two more losses to St. Joseph’s and South Carolina have this Georgetown team searching for answers.

How Syracuse beats Georgetown

Syracuse’s offense may not need to play the perfect game it needed to play to compete with No. 6 Villanova. Georgetown’s adjusted defensive efficiency is ranked 133rd in the nation, according to KenPom. The Hoyas are not good at defending the 2 or the 3, ranking outside the top 180 in both categories.

The Orange shouldn’t have any problems scoring on Georgetown defense as Syracuse ranks in the top 25 in adjusted offensive efficiency. However, SU needs to be wary of giving up too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points that could allow Georgetown to stay in the game. 

Player to watch: Aminu Mohammed, guard, No. 0

Mohammed currently leads the Hoyas with 14.3 points per game. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound freshman was the 2021 Missouri Gatorade Player of the year and selected to the McDonald’s All-American game. The former five-star recruit was ranked as the fourth-best shooting guard in his class. So far, Mohammed has started every game this season and is capable of putting up a double-double on any night, with two already this season.

Mohammed scored a career-high 20 points against San Diego State and then recorded 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against Longwood a few weeks later. He has already been named Big East Freshman of the Week once. With his size advantage over SU’s guards, Mohammed could pose some problems crashing the boards late to collect rebounds.

Stat to know: 33.6%

Syracuse’s defense allows opponents an offensive rebound percentage of 33.6%, almost five points higher than the Division I average of 28.4. That means that Syracuse’s defense isn’t good at stopping teams from grabbing offensive rebounds and getting second-chance points. This issue was apparent against Villanova, who despite being undersized, managed to grab 27 offensive rebounds and scored 25 second-chance points.

Offensive rebounding is one of Georgetown’s few strengths. The Hoyas offensive rebounding percentage is 33.3%, right around the mark the Syracuse defense already allows. Georgetown has two centers over seven feet tall — Ryan Mutombo and Timothy Ighoefe — who will be out with a broken hand, potentially limiting the Hoyas advantage on the boards. 

Published on December 9, 2021 at 12:20 am

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu