1. BRASWELL TO THE RESCUE
Buddy Boeheim led Syracuse in scoring with 21 points, Joe Girard had 18 along with eight assists. Dolezaj had 11 points and nine rebounds. Yet it was Robert Braswell, who scored just three points, who was the difference in the game. His defensive effort was incredibly strong, blocking one shot and coming up with three steals in just 17 minutes. More than that, he also had a couple of other deflections that led to turnovers.
The sequence that may have been the difference in the game was fueled by Braswell. After a 16 point lead was trimmed to just four, Georgetown came up with a steal and was looking for a transition layup to trim it to just two with a little over five minutes to go. Instead, Braswell chased down Jahvon Blair and blocked the shot. That became a transition opportunity for Syracuse on the other end, which Buddy Boeheim took advantage of by drilling a three. Instead of a two point game, Syracuse led by seven. It was a huge momentum swing. Minutes later, after Georgetown cut the lead to three, Braswell stole the ball which led to an Alan Griffin alley-oop layup to push the lead back to five.
That was the impact of Braswell on Saturday. He was the MVP despite only scoring three points.
2. MENTAL TOUGHNESS
The same scenario was playing out. Against Pittsburgh, Syracuse had an 18 point lead and even an 11 point advantage in the second half. Then the Panthers made a huge run and ended up with a three point victory. Against Georgetown, Syracuse had a 16 point lead early in the second half and 11 point advantage with eight minutes to play.
Georgetown made a run that felt similar to Pittsburgh's, and trimmed the lead to four with a little over five minutes to go. That is when Syracuse stepped up and prevented a repeat of the Panthers game. The huge block by Braswell followed by the Boeheim three was key, but Georgetown trimmed the lead to three after that with about three minutes left. Another strong defensive play by Braswell led to an alley-oop from Girard to Griffin to extend the lead to five.
From a Syracuse perspective, overcoming something that just cost you a game a few days earlier shows a lot of mental toughness from this team.
3. BUDDY BREAKS OUT OF SLUMP
Buddy Boeheim entered Saturday's game two for his last 18 three point attempts. He started the game 1-4 from beyond the arc. He was in a massive shooting slump despite getting some good looks. As we know, when good shooters go into a slump, they need to shoot their way out of it. Buddy did not simply keep launching, he took his game inside.
Buddy started to drive, come off of screens and take mid range jumpers or even finish at the rim. That got him back into rhythm and he would hit two key second half three pointers. He finished with a game high 21 points on 9-18 shooting including 3-6 from three point range. When Buddy is shooting well, it makes Syracuse a dangerous offensive team. Hopefully, for Syracuse, that slump is now behind him.
4. THAT'S THE GIRARD SYRACUSE NEEDS
Early in the game, Syracuse got an offensive rebound and kicked out to Joe Girard who was at least 30 feet from the basket. Instead of resetting the offense, he launched an ill-advised shot that missed and gave Georgetown the ball back. It was the type of questionable shot selection that has plagued him for much of this season. After that, however, everything changed.
Girard was what Syracuse needs him to be. Patient offensively as he did not force shots but rather stayed within the offense and hit open looks that presented themselves. He drove at times, was great at facilitating the offense with eight assists and was efficient in transition. With a little over a minute to play and the shot clock was winding down, Girard was forced to take a contested long jumper. He drilled the shot and that all but sealed the game for the Orange. Girard even had a four point play earlier in the game.
Girard needs to play like that more consistently going forward. When he can channel his confidence and extreme range into controlled, efficient play, he becomes a very effective player.
5. STRONG EFFORT ON THE BOARDS
Georgetown came into Saturday's game as the best rebounding team in the Big East and one of the better ones in the nation. They had a big, strong, physical center in Qudus Wahab at 6-11, 237 pounds who was averaging over eight rebounds per game. Coming off of a game where Syracuse was dominated on the glass by Pittsburgh, specifically on the offensive glass as they had a 20-3 advantage in second chance points.
Syracuse completed turned that around against Georgetown. They won the rebounding battle overall 38-32 and kept the Hoyas in check on the offensive glass, winning that 12-7. Syracuse even won second chance points 11-7. The effort on the boards was clear from the get go, and they received contributions from everyone. Guerrier had nine as did Dolezaj, while Buddy and Alan Griffin each had five. Girard even had three. That is the type of effort Syracuse needs every single night. If they can do that, they will still lose some rebounding battles, but it won't be a significant disparity as it was against Pitt.
BONUS: FREE THROW SHOOTING
Syracuse is a very good free throw shooting team at over 78% on the season. They are 20th in the nation in that category and third in the ACC behind Notre Dame and Virginia. That is definitely a good thing, but Syracuse has not gotten to the line much in the last two games. They attempted just four free throws against Pittsburgh and 14 against Georgetown. Four of those 14 against the Hoyas came in the final minute when Georgetown was trying for a late comeback.
Compare those two games to the previous two against Buffalo and Northeastern. Syracuse had 42 and 26 free throw attempts, respectively. In fact, before the last two games, Syracuse has had at least 20 free throw attempts in every game exception one (Boston College). They need to get back to getting to the line more consistently. It is a major weapon for them.
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January 10, 2021 at 08:12PM
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Five Takeaways from Syracuse's Win Over Georgetown - Sports Illustrated
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