BACK FOR MORE, TRAITORS? Georgetown juices Cuse, 79-75

HOYAS WIN. Your Georgetown Hoyas made a statement and overcame a double-digit halftime deficit to beat the Syracuse Orange today by a score of 75-79. The traitorous Orange must be missing the glory days of getting smacked around by the BIG EAST, as their most recent game before today’s contest with the Hoyas was a mid-week matchup against Villanova. That was also a loss.

On the day that the hardwood at Capital One Arena was officially introduced as John Thompson, Jr. Court, Georgetown played a game of which Big Coach would have been proud. (Though he would have had notes, obviously.) Aminu Mohammed, your BIG EAST freshman of the year, led the way with 23 points. 13 rebounds, and a pair each of blocks & steals. Captain Donald Carey added 18 and Kaiden Rice dropped 15. Collin Holloway also broke into double figures.

Malcolm Wilson got the Hoyas on the board after a few empty trips, sandwiched by buckets from various Boeheim spawn. After a pair of misses, newly-christened three point record-holder Rice put the Hoyas on top with a triple, then added another on the next trip up the court. It was an aggressive start that saw the Hoyas head into the first media break up 8-7. He made it a personal 9-0 streak soon after the break.

Watching the aggressive play and complete lack of shyness about contact, there was a combination of nostalgia alongside recognition that Aminu Mohammed seemed built for this kind of game — he would have thrived in the old BIG EAST. Dante Harris finding Holloway inside, in traffic, was also the best kind of vicious. After a solid start the Hoyas had trouble defending a hot-shooting Girard, and there are just so many darn Boeheims to contend with. On the heels of a streak where Cuse made 8 consecutive FGs, Georgetown entered the break down 44-34.

Things got real early in the second half. Harris went down clutching his ankle, Tyler Beard and Holloway stepped up, and Aminu took over the role of dismantling the Syracuse zone with 12 points in the first six minutes of the period. Suddenly, the Hoyas tied it up at 51. With a comprehensively taped Harris back in the game just after the 12’ mark, some deft ball movement put the rock in Captain Donald Carey’s hands, who drilled one and got the chance for a 4-point play. Georgetown was in the lead, 55-51.

The rest of the game was...stressful. When Kaiden Rice drilled a LOOOONG three from in front of the bench with 1:08 left, off the feed from Aminu who was giving the Orange grief from the middle of that eternal zone, Capital One was the loudest it has been in longer than I care to ponder. Georgetown was on top once again, up 75-73. It was beautiful. The Hoyas held strong on the final posessions and are now the proud owner of a victory over Syracuse, as well as a winning record.

A full recap will follow later, courtesy of Hoyachella. For now, savor this one. I have no idea who we play next.

We are Georgetown. Hoya Saxa.