SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Georgetown men's basketball team cut the lead to as few as seven with a little more than five minutes remaining, but it was not enough as they fell 83-64 to Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome. With the setback, the Hoyas slip to 5-6 on the season while the Orange improve to 6-4.
 
ON THE RECORD
"They play zone. We don't face zone very much, especially not the entire game. I just thought we got impatient at times, turned the ball over at times. Those turnovers led to 24 points off our turnovers and 14 fast break points … they were able to feed off our mistakes."
 - Head Coach Patrick Ewing on what Syracuse did to limit GU's offense
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Primo Spears led all scorers with 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including a perfect 9-of-9 effort from the charity stripe. He added a team-best five assists to go along with three rebounds.
• Jay Heath was the second of a trio in double figures with 14 points on five made field goals, including a trio of triples, while adding a steal.
• Qudus Wahab managed his third double-double of the season with 10 points and a squad-best 11 rebounds.
• Georgetown shot 37.3% (22-59) for the game but allowed the Orange to shoot 50.0% (30-60) from the floor.
• Syracuse narrowly outrebounded the Hoyas 35-34 but GU had the advantage on second-chance points, 20-15.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hoyas jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead as Spears knocked down a triple followed by a pair of buckets from Akok Akok prompting the Orange to call timeout. The GU lead ballooned to as many as 11 (17-6) early but Syracuse was able to settle down and claw its way back.
• After Cuse put up 12 unanswered, it was a Wahab three-point play to push the Hoyas ahead once again (20-18, 9:31) as the teams began trading the lead.
• A Heath jumper gave the Blue & Gray its last lead of the first half (30-29) but the Orange would go into the break with a comfortable 45-34 advantage.
• Georgetown continued to fight in the second half despite Syracuse extending the lead to 16 early in the second frame. A layup from Bradley Ezewiro cut the deficit to eight (52-44, 15:26) but the Orange tallied six straight to extend the lead back to double digits.
• The Hoya backcourt continued to challenge as a Heath triple and later a pair of Spears free throws would cut the deficit to seven (64-57, 5:16) but it would be the closest GU would get as Syracuse held on for the 83-64 victory at the final whistle.

 
UP NEXT
The Hoyas open the BIG EAST Conference portion of the schedule on Friday, December 16 as they welcome Xavier to Capital One Arena. Tipoff in the District is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FS1 with Scott Graham calling the play-by-play and Tarik Turner providing analysis. Fans can hear the radio call of Rich Chvotkin, in his 49th season as the Voice of the Hoyas, on The Team 980.