RECAP: That was a lot of fun! Georgetown 79, Syracuse 75

THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN.

The Georgetown Hoyas played the Syracuse Orange in the 95th edition of this historic rivalry, and it did not disappoint. Despite a slow start that saw the Hoyas go over three minutes without getting on the board, the good guys overcame a ten point halftime deficit to vanquish the evil empire from upstate NY.

Both teams traded buckets for most of the first half, but a few costly turnovers and missed shots by the Hoyas, led to a 21-16 lead for the Orange at the halfway mark of the first period. The next few minutes would be fairly uneventful, until AMINU MOHAMMED BLOCKED BUDDY BOEHEIM INTO OBLIVION. Aminu really came into his own this afternoon and showed why he is so special. Dominated Syracuse on both ends of the floor all day.

Teams again traded buckets for the next few minutes, but a (questionable?) foul that led to three free throws for Joe Girard started a little run for Orange that would find them up 9 with 3 minutes before the half. The Hoyas would clawback to make it a 5 point game, only to find themselves down by 10 at half.

The Hoyas would get things going quickly to start the half with a nice three pointer from Captain Don Carey and an impressive layup+1 from Aminu Mohammed brought the Hoyas within 4. Despite a three pointer and big dunk for the Orange, the Hoyas really started to take over and show their grit.

Honestly not sure where to begin. Aminu had one of the more impressive games in recent Hoya history (23pts, 13 and 5), but we saw a lot of promise and growth from a number of players. Sophomore Colin Holloway filled in nicely and showed off some incredible footwork under the rim to put together a number of impressive layups to finish with 10 pts on 5-7 shooting. Freshman Tyler Beard, who stepped up big after an ankle injury to Dante Harris, showed poise as he would keep the offense going and end the day with four crucial assists.

Hoya fans everywhere had their hearts stop for a second in the second half when BET MOP Dante Harris went down with an apparent ankle injury. Dante would head to the locker room for a few minutes, but would eventually return to the court and play some great defense to close out the game.

Thanks to a great mid range baseline jumper by Aminu, the Hoyas would take a 72-71 lead with 2 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately a minute later Buddy Boeheim would find his way for a layup to give the Orange a 1 point lead with 99 seconds

left. Too bad for the Orange that Kaiden Rice, who started off hot in the first half on 3-5 from deep, eventually found his shot at the end of the second half and knocked down a DAGGER 3 to put the Hoyas up for good. The Hoyas would play lockdown defense to close out the game to a very loud Capital One Arena.

There certainly was more Orange in the stands then I wanted to see, but I want to commend Hoya Nation (particularly the student section) for the energy they brought. To the staff and players, thank you for the energy and intensity you brought today, seeing Coach Ewing pump up the crowd was amazing. It made me so happy to see the arena rocking like that — hope to see more of those environments moving forward.

Enjoy the win today everyone! #HoyaSaxa #CuseJuiced

Side notes:

● Georgetown Athletics unveiled a new Hoya Lights feature at Capital One, I for one found it very cool and a great idea, well done!

● The program really did a good job engaging their fans and stakeholders for this game and it made a difference, hope to see that same energy throughout the season

● Cheers to the students next to me that were chanting, A+ taunting: “You shower with your dad” Lol

● Another highlight of the afternoon was my girlfriend (who went to her first game today!): first thing she noticed was Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim and said to me: “They look like the McPoyles from Always Sunny”