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Ed Cooley is new to the Syracuse/Georgetown rivalry. Saturday was only his second time coaching against the Orange since becoming the Hoyas head coach in 2023. Admittedly, he doesn’t know if he fully understands the rivalry quite yet.

What Cooley does have expertise in is the Big East, having coached at Providence from 2011 to 2023. With Cooley’s familiarity with the conference, it’s easy for him to know Syracuse and Georgetown’s storied past. The battles from the 1980s into the turn of the century were pillars of the conference.

But with Syracuse moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013, the rivalry lost some relevance. The programs have played every year since 2015, though each team lacked national success — making just one NCAA tournament in the past four seasons — so the energy hasn’t been the same when the’ve shared the court.

The 100th meeting on Saturday between the two programs brought back some much-needed juice to the rivalry.

“It felt like an old-school Big East backyard sh*t talking (with) everybody mad. That’s what it’s about,” Cooley said postgame.

There might not have been a classic Big East brawl or any iconic moment that’ll be replayed for years to come. What did occur was a tension-filled, physical battle for 40 minutes that had remnants of an old-school showdown. The centennial meeting went right down to the wire with Georgetown (8-2, 0-0 Big East) outlasting Syracuse (5-5, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 75-71. The Hoyas held SU without a field goal in the final 4:12, as SU dropped its first home game to Georgetown since 2016.

Before Saturday, both programs have struggled to form an identity. They’ve each been mediocre, going 0-6 against Power Four schools this season. As both teams are still finding their footing, it perfectly encapsulates the lessened energy surrounding a once-marquee college basketball game.

Despite little hype for the game nationally, players felt differently. Jyáre Davis and Chris Bell both said you could feel the energy as soon as you stepped onto the court. They revealed Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry showed them videos throughout the week of iconic moments between the two schools to get them riled up.

“Obviously it’ll never replicate things, (it’s) just a different time. But it was definitely competitive, guys (were) fired up on both ends,” Autry said postgame.

Syracuse might not play in the Big East anymore, but it acted like it did from the opening tip. In J.J. Starling’s absence, the Orange have pounded the ball inside due to their lacking perimeter game. They immediately fed Eddie Lampkin Jr., who took SU’s first three shots. Though he made just one, it sent a message the Orange were going to be physical.

Lampkin, who finished with a team-high 18 points, constantly battled with Georgetown freshman Thomas Sorber. The center didn’t back down from Lampkin, holding his ground in the post and providing the Hoyas with a boost down low to score 16 points.

The centers’ play style brought old-school vibes. The Orange finished with 34 points in the paint, while Georgetown had 48. That accounted for 56% of the total scoring, with both teams continuously misfired from the outside, going 10-of-41 on 3-pointers.

“There was a lot of bumping. I thought it was a physical game. You know, (we) scored physical baskets, I haven’t seen that play from us in a while,” Autry said.

The physicality was there in the first half and neither team gave in. Syracuse’s biggest lead was five, but that came just four minutes in. Neither team landed a knockout blow, and the score was knotted 37-37 at the half. There was some trash talk throughout the first half — especially between Lampkin and Sorber — but nothing boiled over into anything more. Until about halfway through the second half.

Georgetown came out stronger, with Jayden Epps scoring eight points to put the Hoyas up 54-46 with 13:45 remaining. The guard finished with a game-high 27 points. Lampkin answered with two straight buckets to cut the deficit. After the second, Elijah Moore was called for a foul in the backcourt, which sparked a coming together on the other end.

Lampkin and Sorber jawed at each other. Lucas Taylor also remained on Georgetown’s side of the court, coming face-to-face with Drew Fielder. Fielder and Taylor were assessed offsetting technicals before heading back to their benches.

“That brought back a little bit of old Syracuse, Georgetown vibes for me,” Bell said of the scuffle.

The moment brought the JMA Wireless Dome to its feet. A different energy came from the crowd, and the Orange fed off it. Over the next four and a half minutes, Syracuse outscored Georgetown 14-4, capped off by a Davis and-one. The forward scored 15 points, and his final free throw put SU up six with eight and a half minutes left.

From that point, Syracuse would tally just two more field goals. Georgetown ironically switched to a zone — a staple of Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse teams — to nullify SU’s paint dominance. Postgame, Cooley joked that Boeheim was either smiling or cursing him out somewhere.

The zone halted Syracuse’s offensive momentum. Moore hit a triple to put SU up four, but five straight points from Georgetown put the Hoyas up one. Jaquan Carlos canned a triple from the corner in response with 4:12 remaining, but that was the last time SU would lead.

Malik Mack went 1-for-2 at the line, but Micah Peavy grabbed an offensive board leading to an Epps layup. The Orange missed six shots, and another Epps score with 22 seconds left put the Hoyas up five and iced the game.

“We’ve got to find ways to finish out games. I think as the season goes on, we’ll get better at that,” Davis said.

With the differing outcomes, Cooley and Autry understandably had different tones. Cooley called the win his biggest since taking over, while Autry harped on Syracuse’s poor zone offense down the stretch. What they both agreed on was that there needs to be a way for both programs to continue the tradition of playing each other.

Even with the stakes being lowered, the latest edition of the rivalry proved the two programs can put on a show. Yes, the product is vastly different from what it once was. There weren’t any fistfights or coaches getting ejected after three technical fouls. But the bad blood remains, and the players still understand the importance of what’s at stake.

All you have to do is ask Bell.

“I really don’t like those guys, so I don’t really want to say too much, but they played well tonight,” Bell said. “We’ll see them again next year.”

Published on December 14, 2024 at 5:02 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22