Syracuse used a pair of second half runs to pull away from Georgetown and eventually claim an 80-68 road victory on Saturday. The first, a 13-3 burst, gave the Orange (7-3) a nine-point lead under six minutes after action resumed after intermission. The second, an 11-2 run, effectively put the Hoyas (5-4) to bed on the bad end of a 74-60 score with just over two minutes left.
Those two runs were a big part of Syracuse’s strong second half play, as they pushed a one-point halftime edge to as much as a 16-point lead. The Orange shot 60.0 percent from the field after halftime while holding Georgetown to just 40.0 percent from the floor and 14.3 percent (2-of-14) on 3-point shots. That latter stat dogged the Hoyas all day, as they finished just 5-of-26 (19.2 percent from beyond the arc.
The game started with permissive defense on both sides, as the two squads alternated scores until back-to-back Orange baskets gave them an 11-9 lead less than four minutes into the action. J.J. Starling connected on a 3 for the next SU score to make it a 7-2 run in their favor and a 14-11 edge.
Georgetown erased that gap, but Judah Mintz went on a personal 8-3 run to give Syracuse their biggest lead of the half at 22-17. The Hoyas struck back almost immediately, scoring nine of the game’s next dozen points to nose out in front, 28-27, with just over three minutes left in the half.
Once again, the two sides traded scores until Starling and Mounir Hima both scored second-chance points for the Orange. Georgetown countered with an offensive rebound bucket of their own before the horn, leaving SU holding a 35-34 halftime lead.
Less than three minutes into the second session, Syracuse capped a 13-3 run with nine straight points to take their biggest lead at 46-38. Starling hit a corner three, then Mintz turned a steal into a fast break layup. Maliq Brown muscled in a putback, then converted his own steal into a breakaway dunk to put a cap on the burst.
That run started a stretch where the Orange made 11-of-14 shots after an 11-for-27 start to the day. They needed every one to keep Georgetown at bay as the hosts clawed back within five points twice after the middle of the second half.
SU responded to that second threat with a half dozen markers. Starling made a pair at the stripe, then Mintz got free for an emphatic breakaway slam and fed Hima for a reverse lay-up and a 69-58 lead with 5:34 to go. Quadir Copeland emphatically announced the game belonged to Syracuse with a ferocious putback jam for a 74-60 lead with just over two minutes to play, capping what turned out to be a decisive 11-2 run.
Mintz led the way for the Orange, draining 13-of-15 from the stripe for more than half of his game-high 25 points and also grabbed five steals. Starling hit all three of his shots from deep and poured in 15 of his 22 points in the second half. Copeland was a vital cog in the second half, scoring ten of his 14.
Jayden Epps topped the Hoyas with 17 points, but made only 1-of-9 from behind the 3-point line. Supreme Cook added 16 points and grabbed a game-high ten rebounds. Wayne Bristol Jr. added nine points and three other players added seven apiece.
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