Big East Tournament Shocker: Georgetown Wins Against Top Ranked Syracuse

Day two of the 2010 Big East Tournament saw one major upset (Cincinnati beating Louisville) and another game that came down to the final seconds (Marquette barely surviving St. John's). Thursday's 91-84 victory by eight seed Georgetown (22-9) over regular season Big East Champion Syracuse (28-4) continues the trend of unexpected outcomes in the Big East Tournament.

A battle of two teams who don't use many players (Georgetown played nine players during Thursday's game, Syracuse played seven) came down to mistakes. Georgetown committed only 12 turnovers (compared to 17 by Syracuse) and shot 28 free throws compared to only 12 by Syracuse.

Georgetown, who lost both regular season meetings against Syracuse, was led by junior guard Chris Wright, who finished with a game-high 27 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Georgetown as a team finished shooting 57.9% from the field, with only one player shooting under fifty percent (Jerrelle Benimon missed the only shot he attempted).

Syracuse, led by Big East player of the year Wesley Johnson's 24 points, excelled on offense but struggled all game finding a defensive rhythm. As a team Syracuse shot 54.2% from the field, including 55% shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

Up by three at halftime, Syracuse failed to stop Georgetown's offense during the second half. 17 of Syracuse's 21 personal fouls came in the second half, leading to 24 second half free throws for Georgetown.

Syracuse had no answer to Georgetown's inside attack, a problem magnified when senior center Arinze Onuaku left the game with a knee injury in the second half. Onuaku did not return to the game and is scheduled to undergo an MRI Friday to determine the extent of the injury.

Syracuse, coming off a loss to Louisville to end the regular season, came into the Big East Tournament hoping to solidify a number-one seed in the NCAA tournament. Now on a two game losing streak and possibly without their starting center, it remains uncertain where Syracuse will end up. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sunday, March 14.

Georgetown will play the winner of Thursday's game between five seed Marquette and four seed Villanova.

Sources:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300700183" target="_new">Box Score: Georgetown vs. Syracuse

https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf8/677342.pdf?ATCLID=1322952&SPSID=99617&SPID=11228&DB_OEM_ID=19400 target="_new">Big East Tournament bracket