Syracuse (8-1) travels to Georgetown (8-0) on Saturday for tip-off at 12:30 p.m. After losing 78-71 last year to Georgetown, Syracuse went on to lose by over 30 to St.John’s en route to five nonconference losses. This year, Syracuse looks to stay at one nonconference loss against Georgetown and its new head coach Patrick Ewing. See who our beat writers predict in what they believe will be a close game.

Sam Fortier (9-0)

Georgetown’s strength of schedule

Syracuse 66, Georgetown 64

The Hoyas are 8-0. The Hoyas play the weakest non-conference schedule in Division I, according to Kenpom.com. Those two things might be related. Georgetown’s best win currently is over Richmond, Kenpom’s 219th-ranked team and its second-best is over Mount St. Mary’s, the 301st. Buuuuuut, the Hoyas are a talented squad that plays good defense with its length. New head coach Patrick Ewing’s most-common lineup features a 6-foot-4 point guard, 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-7 wing players and then a mountain in 6-foot-10, 270-pound Jessie Govan at center. Plus, it’s still the Orange’s first true road test, and SU finished 2-8 away from the Carrier Dome last season. All this said, it’s a tight one that could go either way, but Georgetown struggles too much to force turnovers and doesn’t get to the free-throw line often enough to topple the Orange.

Matthew Gutierrez (9-0)

Georgetown’s Day Off

Syracuse 60, Georgetown 50

In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ferris gives in to an urge to cut school. In this matchup, Patrick Ewing, who torched Syracuse as a player in the 1980s, won’t be cutting class, but he and the Hoyas give in to an urge to try to beat Syracuse inside. It won’t work. The Hoyas have size Syracuse hasn’t yet seen, but the Orange’s stronghold inside won’t let in, especially with Bourama Sidibe back in the frontcourt. Despite its road woes, the Orange beats its former Big East rival by a few possessions to improve to 9-1.

Tomer Langer (9-0)

Breaking the streak

Syracuse 62, Georgetown 59

Georgetown has defeated Syracuse each of the last two years since renewing this rivalry. Syracuse didn’t look great against Colgate, but the Hoyas really haven’t had a challenge all year. It’ll take Georgetown a little bit of time to adjust to a stronger Orange team, which will be enough for SU to pull off a narrow victory.

Published on December 15, 2017 at 5:46 pm