Syracuse hosts Georgetown for milestone battle in longtime rivalry

Field Level Media|published: Fri 13th December, 16:37 2024

Dec 10, 2024; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Jaquan Carlos (5) shoots the ball between Albany Great Danes guard Kheni Briggs (8) and guard Amir Lindsey (4) in the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Syracuse and Georgetown meet for the 100th time Saturday when the Orange host the Hoyas in the latest installment of their classic rivalry.

As former Big East Conference rivals, Syracuse and Georgetown have staged many memorable contests over the decades with the Orange holding a 54-45 all-time advantage. The teams still meet annually despite the Orange now playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Syracuse has won five of the last seven meetings, including a 12-point triumph in Washington D.C. last December.

"It definitely felt like a Big East game," Hoyas coach Ed Cooley said after last season's contest.

This time around, Georgetown (7-2) is coming off a 73-60 loss to West Virginia in which the team shot under 38 percent from the floor and committed 14 turnovers.

"When the ball has music, when the ball is singing, unbelievable music happens," Cooley said. "The music is the play. The music is body movement and screening an open shot. We didn't have good music today."

Thomas Sorber is the team's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, although the freshman has failed to reach that average in six of the last seven games.

Syracuse (5-4), meanwhile, is coming off a 102-85 win over Albany despite the absence of leading scorer J.J. Starling (19.8 points), who is out indefinitely with a hand injury. In his stead, freshman Donnie Freeman supplied 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting despite playing just 23 minutes due to an illness.

"Whatever (illness) he has, he needs to keep that, if he can keep playing like, whatever he was feeling," Orange coach Adrian Autry joked.

Syracuse will be looking for more success from 3-point range after hitting 6-of-15 (40 percent) against Albany. In their previous game -- a five-point loss to Notre Dame -- the Orange failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time in more than a decade.

No Syracuse player has made more than 11 3-pointers this season -- and even that player (Chris Bell) is only shooting 25 percent from long distance.

--Field Level Media

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