Syracuse/Georgetown III wasn't pretty. In fact at times it approached the antithesis of beautiful, but it certainly was memorable.
The Hoyas came from down 12 in the second half to reach overtime on a pair of Otto Porter free throws but never once regained a lead they lost midway through the opening frame.
Trailing by three with :14.4 left, Georgetown (25-6) was unable to get a tying shot off. John Thompson III drew up a play that would run Porter off a screen but Porter became trapped on the far wing as Syracuse (25-8) chewed up on the arc defensively and threw an off-kilter pass away to the Orange's C.J. Fair.
"[The Orange] played it well," Thompson III acknowledged.
Fair missed a pair of potentially game-sealing free throws with three ticks on the clock but Jabril Trawick's running 35' shot at the buzzer was off target.
Syracuse had survived to attain their final Big East title game despite 1-6 shooting from the line in overtime. The Hoyas' offense stagnated with 3:36 to go in overtime as their point guard Markel Starks fouled out via a bump on a drive.
Postgame audio from Coach John Thompson III, Otto Porter and Markel Starks plus the rest of this recap can be found after the jump.
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Otto Porter & Markel Starks:
With more attention coming to both Porter in the middle of the zone plus D'Vanutes Smith-Rivera (a notable 0-4 behind the arc) and Markel Starks on the perimeter, sophomore big Mikael Hopkins was open with greater frequency on the baseline. Hopkins had a career high 15, including a basket late in the extra frame that drew Georgetown within 55-53.
Hopkins was fouled on the play but missed his attempt, part of a terrible 11-20 evening by the Hoyas at the line.
James Southerland was held scoreless the final 20 minutes of regulation and OT once Thompson III moved Trawick on him defensively. Southerland canned four of his 10 three point attempts, tying him with Syracuse assistant Gerry McNamara for most three pointers in a single Big East Tournament.
Georgetown led 13-8 after almost nine minutes and 17-14 on a feed from Porter to Nate Lubick, but then suffered through just short of an eight minute scoreless stretch wherein the Orange scored 13 straight.
The same distributed jumpers and zone overload shots by Porter that dropped at the Carrier Dome and in Washington wouldn't fall in New York City.
Trawick's wing three (the team's first of the night in seven tries) drew his team back within seven but Baye Keita added two free throws which made it 29-20 at the break.
Keita, a 48.6% free throw shooter this season, was a perfect 7-7 at Madison Square Garden including a pair of conversions with 1:23 left in regulation after Georgetown had pulled even.
Syracuse will play the winner of Notre Dame/Louisville in the final while Georgetown returns to DC awaiting their NCAA Tournament seeding.
"I had not planned on not playing tomorrow," Thompson said wistfully.
