On Pearl Washington Day in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse (6-4) fell to its old Big East rival Georgetown (7-4), 78-71, despite a career-high 29 points from Tyler Lydon. In its last chance at a somewhat respectable nonconference win, the Orange came up short and now the panic button moves a little bit closer to head coach Jim Boeheim’s hand.

Here are the superlatives from Syracuse’s loss Saturday.

The Big Moment – Jonathan Mulmore’s 3 to put GU up seven

With under three minutes left in the game and Syracuse trailing by four, Mulmore hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the right wing to give the visitors their biggest lead of the day. While the make didn’t completely bury SU, it gave the Hoyas enough of a cushion in the final minutes to pull out a victory despite Lydon’s best attempt to rescue the Orange.

Stud – Tyler Lydon

Even if it’s only one game for now, the sophomore’s offensive struggles vanished as he racked up a 12-for-13 day from the field. After nailing a 3-pointer to give the Orange a 40-38 lead, Lydon wagged three fingers in the air toward the SU bench and and stuck out his tongue. That Lydon has rarely showed up this season, but he got back on track for now with Syracuse’s best individual performance of the season.

Dud – Frank Howard

In SU’s two games prior to facing the Hoyas, the sophomore point guard shot 0-of-14 from the field. His offensive struggles carried over to Saturday, with Howard shooting 2-of-6 en route to only four points. He committed six turnovers, four of which came on errant passes that Georgetown easily telegraphed to intercept. His last one, a swing pass that Rodney Pryor easily picked off, earned Howard a temporary seat on the bench as Boeheim turned to Tyus Battle in the backcourt along with John Gillon.

Highlight – Lydon’s and-1 dunk

On Lydon’s flashiest play of his career-high scoring day, he received a bounce pass from Taurean Thompson at the end of a cut to the hoop. The sophomore threw it down on Pryor, before hanging on the rim with one hand for emphasis. The dunk cut Georgetown’s lead to two at the time. You could pick any number of Lydon’s buckets, but this one had the biggest exclamation point, despite the game’s result.

Lowlight – Every one of Howard’s turnovers

Howard ranked 10th in the country in assists coming into Saturday’s game, but the often skilled passer struggled mightily to take care of the ball against Georgetown. Each giveaway earned a stern reprimand from Boeheim, including a “Horrible. Horrible. Horrible” after one. The sophomore’s six turnovers led Syracuse’s 13 total giveaways as the Orange couldn’t protect the ball in arguably its worst loss of the year.

Published on December 17, 2016 at 2:22 pm