1/28/2002
The Hoyas (13-7, 4-4) defeated BIG EAST West Division leader Syracuse (17-5, 6-2) 75-60 on 1/28/02. The home crowd of 14,889 and the national audience watching on ESPN saw a grimly determined Hoya squad dominate the boards against their 10th ranked opponents.
Mike Sweetneypaced all scorers with 18 and all rebounders with 13 on his way to his 11th double-double of the season, the 17th of his career. Kevin Braswell contributed 16 tallies as well as 6 steals and 5 assists. Freshman Harvey Thomas set a new career high in scoring with 14 points. Freshman Tony Bethel also scored 14 points and just missed a double-double with a career high 9 rebounds.
There were 6 ties in the first frame, until the Hoyas put on a 12-5 spurt at the end of the period to take a 7 point advantage into the locker room 37-30. At the half the Hoyas also held a 26-14 rebounding edge over the Orange, who were missing their leading scorer, Preston Shumpert, hampered by a scratched cornea.
In the second frame the Hoyas built both their scoring and rebounding lead while shooting a torrid 50%. Although the Hoyas had 5 more turnovers than the ?Cuse for the game, they also had 47 rebounds to SU?s 22. Despite being whistled for 3 technical fouls, the Hoyas led by as many as 23 on more than one occasion.
