Analysis: Syracuse 77, Georgetown 70

Syracuse won for the 9th time in 10 home games against the Hoyas tonight, 77-70. I didn't get to watch the game (did I mention that I'm very busy these days?), but it looks like it was all over in the 1st half. My reader sent me an e-mail prod, so I guess I'd better get to it.

Let's run the numbers:

		Offense				Defense
	1st Half	2nd Half	Total		1st Half	2nd Half	Total
Pace	33	34	66
Eff.	67.7	141.7	105.4		116.9	115.1	116.0
eFG%	37.5	60.0	51.8		48.5	52.4	50.0
TO%	36.9	5.9	21.1		15.4	20.7	18.1
OR%	26.7	31.6	29.4		40.0	33.3	37.5
FTA/FGA	45.0	22.9	30.9		21.2	100.0	51.9
FTM/FGA	35.0	17.1	23.6		18.2	81.0	42.6
Assist Rate	50.0	82.4	73.9		71.4	70.0	70.8
Block Rate	36.4	15.8	23.3		13.0	10.0	12.1
Steal Rate	18.5	3.0	10.5		6.2	14.8	10.5
2FG%	27.3	47.4	40.0		43.5	80.0	54.5
3FG%	33.3	50.0	44.0		40.0	18.2	28.6
FT%	77.8	75.0	76.5		85.7	81.0	82.1

  Georgetown vs Syracuse  
  2/16/08 12:00 p.m. at Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY  
  Final score: Syracuse 77, Georgetown 70
     
  Georgetown              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF  
  Summers, DaJuan        36:12  - 6  14/63 2 -5  2 -9  4 -5  14/50 3 /17 1 /65 4 /62 1 /31 1 /31 5 /32  5   
  Freeman, Austin        29:56  + 5  6 /61 1 -5  0 -1  4 -4  6 /44 0 /19 2 /51 2 /54 0 /26 2 /26 2 /23  0   
  Hibbert, Roy           25:39  + 10 11/58 4 -6  0 -0  3 -5  6 /37 5 /15 1 /44 3 /50 1 /23 1 /20 2 /21  5   
  Wallace, Jonathan      36:14  + 1  26/68 3 -3  6 -7  2 -3  10/51 6 /14 0 /63 1 /64 0 /29 0 /30 1 /30  1   
  Sapp, Jessie           31:13  + 3  11/61 1 -4  3 -8  0 -0  12/45 2 /16 1 /55 4 /56 0 /26 2 /27 3 /25  3   
  Macklin, Vernon        05:23  - 18 0 /0  0 -1  0 -0  0 -0  1 /4  0 /0  0 /11 2 /10 1 /6  0 /4  0 /3   1   
  Rivers, Jeremiah       11:53  - 11 0 /11 0 -1  0 -0  0 -0  1 /12 1 /3  0 /20 1 /18 0 /8  0 /9  0 /9   1   
  Crawford, Tyler        04:31  - 1  0 /5  0 -1  0 -0  0 -0  1 /5  0 /1  1 /7  0 /7  0 /5  0 /4  1 /4   0   
  Ewing, Patrick         18:59  - 18 2 /23 1 -4  0 -0  0 -0  4 /27 0 /7  1 /34 0 /29 1 /11 2 /19 1 /13  5   
  TOTALS                 40:00       70    12-30 11-25 13-17    55 17/23 7 /70 17/70 4 /33 10/34 20/32  21  
                                           0.400 0.440 0.765       0.739 0.100 0.243 0.121 0.294 0.625      
    
  Syracuse                Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF  
  GREENE, Donte          39:27  + 7  18/77 3 -6  4 -16 0 -0  22/54 4 /17 0 /69 1 /70 2 /30 2 /32 1 /34  3   
  ONGENAET, Kristof      38:42  + 3  3 /73 1 -1  0 -0  1 -2  1 /52 3 /22 2 /69 3 /67 0 /30 2 /30 6 /34  3   
  ONUAKU, Arinze         25:05  + 2  13/45 6 -10 0 -0  1 -2  10/37 0 /10 2 /41 2 /41 2 /20 1 /22 3 /18  5   
  FLYNN, Jonny           40:00  + 7  17/77 3 -7  1 -4  8 -8  11/54 9 /20 2 /70 2 /70 0 /30 0 /32 4 /34  0   
  HARRIS, Paul           35:36  + 9  22/69 4 -6  1 -1  11-14 7 /49 1 /17 1 /63 4 /62 0 /26 4 /29 4 /30  3   
  JACKSON, Rick          14:55  + 5  2 /32 0 -2  0 -0  2 -2  2 /17 0 /8  0 /29 1 /29 3 /10 2 /10 2 /16  1   
  JARDINE, Scoop         06:15  + 2  2 /12 1 -1  0 -0  0 -0  1 /7  0 /2  0 /9  0 /11 0 /4  1 /5  0 /4   0   
  TOTALS                 40:00       77    18-33 6 -21 23-28    54 17/24 7 /70 14/70 7 /30 12/32 24/34  15  
                                           0.545 0.286 0.821       0.708 0.100 0.200 0.233 0.375 0.706      
     
  Efficiency: Syracuse 1.100, Georgetown 1.000
  eFG%: Syracuse 0.500, Georgetown 0.518
  Substitutions: Syracuse 15, Georgetown 41
     
  2-pt Shot Selection:  
  Dunks: Syracuse 2-2, Georgetown 1-1
  Layups/Tips: Syracuse 8-15, Georgetown 6-10
  Jumpers: Syracuse 8-16, Georgetown 5-19

Comments:

• For Georgetown's offense, this was clearly a tale of two halves.
  

• The 1st half was the worst offensive half of basketball, based on efficiency, that the Hoyas have played this year. With the poor offensive showing in the previous 4 games and Georgetown's historical struggles with the Orangemen's 2-3 zone, this wasn't as much of a surprise as you'd wish.

• The 2nd half was Georgetown's best offensive half in Big East play, although the stats may be a bit inflated by the aberrantly accurate 3FG shooting (8-16).

• On the other side of the ball, Georgetown's defense had their first poor showing since the game at Pittsburgh in mid-January.

• Heading into the game, the Hoyas had turned the ball over less than 20% in only 2 of the last 10 halves of basketball, and this carried through to the 1st half today, where Georgetown committed a brutal 12 TOs on 33 possessions. Syracuse could claim half of these as steals, meaning 6 turnovers were unforced or on offensive fouls.

• Meanwhile, the Hoyas struggled mightily from close range in the 1st half, shooting 3-11 on 2FG thanks in no small part to Syracuse's 4 blocks.

• The offense improved dramatically in the Vesper half, in part because of the hot outside shooting, but also because Georgetown only committed 2 turnovers on 34 possessions. Again, I didn't see the game, so this may have been due to Syracuse becoming more passive with the large halftime lead.

• Finally, Syracuse kept their offensive efficiency going in the 2nd half thanks to 80% 2FG shooting. As my reader said, "Yes, that 80% is NOT a typo-they only missed two in 2H, and none in the last 16:25. Good thing they kept shooting 3's and turning the ball over."

Finally, if you haven't had the pleasure, or haven't in a while, do take a look at the performance charts for this season (always linked in the upper right box). The simple fact is that, over the last 5 games, Georgetown has performed on average about 10 points worse than expected. With the Hoyas looking like a 7 point favorite in Monday's game at Providence, the team will need to start playing better if they hope to win.