I'll try to make this as painless as possible, or at least warn you before posting articles and quotes you probably don't want to read. In sum, Georgetown played like what J Woww looks like during the day and Cuse played like what she looks like at night. But first, a little quiz. The four quotes below were all said during the post-game conference, guess who said 'em.
(1) "I think we didn't play defense the way we've been playing defense all year. Our defense has been really good, I think we just lost some of our emotion down there on the offensive end and we couldn't come back."
(2) "We had one of - if not our worst - game[s] of the year. We never got into a rhythm in terms of establishing what we wanted to do."
(3) "Everyone was very good today, everyone helped out as a team. That was a team victory, in the truest sense of the word."
(4) "That's as good as we can play. Everybody was looking for each other."
The ANSWER(s):
(1) "I think we didn't play defense the way we've been playing defense all year. Our defense has been really good, I think we just lost some of our emotion down there on the offensive end and we couldn't come back." - Jim Boeheim on 1/14/2009 after #8 Syracuse lost to #13 Georgetown, 74-88
(2) "We had one of - if not our worst - game[s] of the year. We never got into a rhythm in terms of establishing what we wanted to do." - John Thompson III on 1/25/2010 after #7 Georgetown lost to #4 Syracuse, 56-73
(3) "Everyone was very good today, everyone helped out as a team. That was a team victory, in the truest sense of the word." - John Thompson III on 1/14/2009
(4) "That's as good as we can play. Everybody was looking for each other." - Jim Boeheim on 1/25/2010
Oh what a difference a year can make. Did last night suck? Yes. Will it make a huge impact on the season? Probably not. Still a lot of basketball to play, and despite the taunts and mocking of the Cuse Delinquents, they received the same ass-whooping last year.
Below is what the rest of the media had to say, feel free to ignore.
Syracuse Orange destroys Georgetown Hoyas, 73-56
No. 4 Syracuse ran the No. 7
Hoyas right out of the Carrier Dome with a 73-56 trouncing before 26,508. Amazingly, Syracuse fell behind 14-0 in the first three minutes before roaring back, its zone defense looking impenetrable and its fast break unstoppable.
The Morning After: Favorites for a reason - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
The stats aren't complimentary of Georgetown's performance, either. The Hoyas allowed Syracuse a free throw rate of 62.2 percent, and they turned the ball over on nearly 30 percent of their possessions. Nor did the Hoyas get to the line themselves. Once Syracuse locked things in on defense, it was over. Georgetown didn't get inside, it didn't get good looks and the Orangemen made the Hoyas pay in transition.
No. 7 Georgetown falls to No. 4 Syracuse, 73-56 - washingtonpost.com
Georgetown did not make any of its players available for postgame interviews. Asked why not, a university spokesman said that it had been "a tough loss."
Two contenders came to play - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
Notable stats: The Orange dished 18 assists on 24 baskets, had an eFG% of 57.8 and held the Hoyas to just .82 points per possession (more than enough to offset Georgetown’s 51.0 eFG%; get thee to the free-throw line, Hoyas!)
Syracuse Orange destroys Georgetown Hoyas, 73-56
One second-half sequence summed up the night. Georgetown's top scorer, Austin Freeman, maneuvered to the basket for a layup, only to have it pinned against the backboard by the Orange's Wes Johnson. The ball came right back to Freeman, who went up again and had his try swatted in the other direction by Arinze Onuaku, starting a Syracuse break.
For Georgetown, the bench really let them down, as they received zero points and just four rebounds from non-starters. The leading scorer for the game was guard Austin Freeman with 23 for Georgetown, but Syracuse walked away with the win and the respect of a game finished the right away.
College basketball: Syracuse overtakes Georgetown - San Jose Mercury News
"We recovered from the worst start I can remember," Boeheim said. "Our defense picked up and our offense got going. To go into halftime ahead was really unbelievable. To dominate a top-10 team after giving them 14 points is quite an effort. That's as good as we can play."
College Basketball: Kansas and Syracuse cruise | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/26/2010
Austin Freeman led Georgetown with 23 points. Greg Monroe had eight points and only four rebounds before fouling out with 6 minutes, 27 seconds left.
As suspected, Greg Monroe was a non-factor. When he can’t get involved, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright are left on an island beyond 20 feet.
Georgetown Hoyas vs. Syracuse Orange - Recap - January 25, 2010 - ESPN
Georgetown patiently passed the ball around the perimeter on each early possession, waiting for someone to get open, and Freeman often was the choice. He hit from the left wing, the right corner and the top of the key and Clark added another 3 from the left wing -- all in the first 3:01. After that, the Orange became more aggressive with their 2-3 zone and stormed back, never allowing the Hoyas to get any rhythm and denying the inside passes. Syracuse finished with 13 steals and eight blocks.