The Orange Destroy the Hoyas at Home

   The now No.4 ranked Syracuse Orange improved to 7-1 in the Big East and 20-1 overall, as they picked up another solid victory by beating their arch rival No.7 Georgetown Hoyas(15-4) 73 to 56.  This was the tale of two games, as the Hoyas silenced the crowd immediately as they opened the game with a 14 to 0 lead over the hometown Orange.  The 26,508 in the seats must have been extremely surprised to see Georgetown open the game shooting 5 of 6 from the field, as Georgetown Guard Austin Freemen was putting on a show, as he drained 3 shots from beyond the arc in the first 3 minutes of play.  However, this game was just getting started, as The Orange then began to play and were led by their bench in order to fight their way back into the game.  Once again, The Cuse bench was led by Kris Joseph and Scooooop Jardine, as both players shot a combined 9 of 11 from the floor for the game, and put up 24 points.  Joseph and Jardine have continued to impress all year, however, Joseph has really shown how he's becoming a Big East threat in every game.  Joseph's nose for the bucket, strong ball handling, and driving ability is what helped SU cut into the 14 point early Hoyas lead.  Jardine went 4 of 4 from the field, most of which was on fast breaks, as he pushed the ball down the floor and put pressure on the slower Hoyas defense to get back on D and make plays.  The momentum rather quickly began to turn in the Orange's favor, as the fans got into the game and the Orange players were feeding off of the emotion built from the comeback.

          So what allowed for such a turnaround after the first 3 minutes of the game....DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE!  Fifth year Senior Guard and leader Andy Rautins was huge in this game for The Cuse, as he played incredible defense and even had 6 steals to help create fast break opportunities for SU.  Defense has been a staple for The Orange all year and has led them to where they are in the Big East and National standings.  How's this for some defense, Wesley Johnson had 4 blocks and 3 steals, Kris Joseph had a block and 3 steals, Rautins had 6 steals, and Rick Jackson had 3 blocks and even gobbled up a steal.  Another huge factor was the fact that SU completely took Georgetown Sophomore Forward Greg Monroe out of the game, as foul trouble wasn't an issue for the rest of the Hoyas, but Monroe continued to pick up the ticky tack fouls that always go unnoticed.  However, with much of the game left in the second half, Monroe fouled out with an unnecessary screen foul at the top of the arc on Andy Rautins.  It was a nice acting job by Rautins, but still a foul.  Rautins came up with big plays all game, and needed to, as they showed his Dad Leo Rautins in the stands almost as much as they showed Andy.  After not recording a point against Marquette, Rautins scored 15 against the Hoyas and shot 9 of 10 from the free throw line.  This was an incredibly balanced scoring attack from The Cuse tonight, and was no coincidence that SU pulled out a W because of it.  Georgetown simply had no bench and no spark after the first 3 minutes of play.  Georgetown's lack of balance and no clear leader never allowed them to truly scare The Orange, as once the tide started to turn, the Hoyas simply couldn't keep up.