*Insert Cooley Boeheim Spiderman gif here*
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team came up short against old Big East foe Georgetown by a final score of 75-71 from the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange led late, but with Syracuse clinging to a two point lead with 5:53 left in the game, Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley switched from man-to-man defense into a 2-3 zone. It was a coaching move that ultimately gave the Hoyas the win in the centennial meeting in the storied rivalry.
Cooley referred to the victory as by far the “best win we’ve had” since he’s been the head coach of the Hoyas. He played mostly man-to-man in this game, but employed a 2-3 zone in both halves, an identity of Syracuse in seasons past under former coach Jim Boeheim.
“Coach Boeheim is either clapping or he’s cussing me out,” Cooley remarked post-game.
Georgetown worked on the zone all week in preparation for the Syracuse game. It was part of the game plan. Syracuse might continue to see zones this season as 27.1% outside shooting by the Orange ranks No. 340 in the country. In this game particularly, Syracuse center Eddie Lampkin was so effective down low versus man defense, Cooley went 2-3 zone to limit post-touches and, he said, to limit foul trouble.
Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Despite Syracuse’s lack of success against the zone in the second half, Autry wasn’t unprepared — the staff had done its homework scouting the Hoyas and expected to see it.
“They’ve done it every game,” Autry said. “They go 2-2-1 or 1-2-2. They can play a 3-2 or a 2-3. We just, for some reason, we haven’t been very good against the zone.”
Georgetown played some 2-3 zone in the first half but it wasn’t as effective as it was down the stretch. Syracuse also had Elijah Moore and Chris Bell in during the zone in the first half. Bell was on the bench for most of the second half and didn’t come in until the final two minutes of the game. Adjustment were made to the zone at halftime, Cooley said, crediting his assistant coaches.
“I thought our coaches did a really good job of taking some things away. When you’re playing in these zones, what are they trying to do?” Cooley asked rhetorically of Syracuse. “So there’s designated players that are going to get the ball in certain spots so we wanted to make sure we had high demand on those spots with some of our longer athletes.”
That designated spot and player would be the high-post, where Jyare Davis was set to operate. He was subbed out in the final two minutes for Freeman.
“I think that we showed throughout the game that they didn’t have the players to guard me or Eddie,” Davis said. “Of course, (Georgetown) goes zone it makes it a little tougher to exploit the matchups we had. I think we just have to do a better job attacking the zone.”
Syracuse also tried to go a 1-4 offensive set against, or “double flash” against the 2-3 zone with Davis/Freeman and Lampkin flashing to the high post and shooters on opposite sides elbow extended.
“They were just being more aggressive on the zone than in the first half,” Lampkin said. “We just gotta execute it better. Just execute our plays better in the zone.”
Down the stretch Syracuse couldn’t generate the offense it needed to get over the hump. Freeman and Bell were reinserted into the game with 1:54 remaining, but by then both players were cold. Autry said the reason for the substitution was to full court press and for outside shooting.
“At that point we knew we were going to press,” Autry said of the decision to put Bell and Freeman back in the game. “At that point we probably needed to make a shot.”
Freeman had a chance to tie the game late on a three, but missed off the back iron. Trailing by thee, Syracuse nearly forced a turnover in the press as Jayden Epps was trapped in the corner when he traveled, but it wasn’t called. Syracuse fouled Malik Mack on the ensuing play, where he split a pair at the free throw line.
Trailing by four with 12 seconds left, Syracuse failed to score again. Enough time had wilted away and any effort to reclaim the lead fell short.
“Our zone offense, we couldn’t score when we needed to score,” Autry said. “ I think that was the difference.”