SYRACUSE, N.Y. — L.J. Peak had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Rodney Pryor added 20 points and Georgetown beat Syracuse 78-71 on Saturday to put a damper on what was a special day for the Orange.
Georgetown (7-4) has won five straight, the first four coming against teams from the lower echelons of Division I. This one came against a fierce old foe on the day Syracuse (6-4) honored former star Dwayne “Pearl” Washington.
Tyler Lydon had a career-high 29 points for Syracuse, missing only 1 of 13 shots, but he didn’t have a lot of help. John Gillon had 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting in his first start of the season and Andrew White had 12 on 3-of-11 shooting.
Syracuse, which has struggled to form any kind of consistency, didn’t find much against its former Big East rival.
The Hoyas matched the largest lead of the game when Jonathan Mullmore drained a 3 to give Georgetown a 67-60 lead with 2:36 left. The Hoyas hung on at the end after Lydon’s follow slam and baseline hook moved the Orange within 69-66 with 64 seconds left.
Georgetown has lived at the free-throw line this year and that helped the Hoyas survive this one. They were 22 of 25 from the line, nine coming in the waning moments, while the Orange was 14 of 25.
It was Pearl Washington Day inside the Carrier Dome and the former Syracuse star, who died in April of cancer at age 52, was celebrated on a snowy, wintry day. Syracuse University is establishing the Pearl Washington Endowed Fund for Continuing Education and set a $1 million endowment goal. The fund will support student-athletes who leave the university and later return to pursue their degrees.
A framed photo of Washington and a piece of the basketball court were presented to Washington’s family at center court during a halftime celebration. A No. 31, Washington’s number at Syracuse, also was unveiled and adhered to the wooden surface at center court.
“This is a very special weekend. Very special, especially since it’s the Georgetown game,” said Rafael Addison, a teammate of Washington in the 1980s. “It’s hard to talk about him. Pearl would be very pleased with the outpouring of love. (When the 31 peeled off) it felt like he was in the building. He loved this building. He loved this community. He had so much life, so much charisma.”
White hit his first two 3-pointers as Syracuse rushed to an 11-4 lead in the first 5:08, giving the Orange the biggest lead of the first half, 11-4. The Hoyas clawed back behind Peak’s 12 points in the opening period, and when Peak hit a follow shot to tie the game at 31-all in the final two minutes of the half, it almost seemed like an Orange omen.
In the Orange’s previous game, a 99-77 win over Boston University last Saturday, Gillon and Taurean Thompson came off the bench to contribute 23 and 22 points, each a career high. Gillon hit 6 of 7 from long range and Thompson was 10 of 13 shooting. Thompson was 2 of 8 against Georgetown.
BIG PICTURE
Georgetown: Hoyas entered the game averaging 28.5 trips to the free-throw line and that’s been a huge factor. They were shooting 77.5 percent on free throws before the game. … Hoyas have won six of their last eight meetings with Syracuse.
Syracuse: A video montage of Washington highlights was shown before the game. .. The Orange leads the series with Georgetown 49-43 but is 7-11 against John Thompson III. Hoyas are 13-30 on the road against Syracuse. … Seven-foot-2 center Paschal Chukwu, a transfer from Providence, had retina surgery on Saturday and is out indefinitely. He’s played 108 minutes in seven games and had not played in two of the previous three games but still led the team with 14 blocks.
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