Syracuse (6-4) suffered its fourth loss of the year, 78-71, on Saturday in the Carrier Dome against former Big East rival Georgetown (7-4). The Orange honored the late Pearl Washington at halftime and unveiled a “31” on the “S” at midcourt. Tyler Lydon scored a career-high 29 points.

Here are three reactions from the game.

Syracuse’s nonconference resume takes a hit

With St. John’s as Syracuse’s only major-conference opponent before Atlantic Coast Conference play begins in about two weeks, the Orange’s NCAA Tournament resume took a big hit on Saturday. Georgetown already has four losses and SU has yet to beat a major-conference opponent.

While Syracuse could still make up for the GU loss in the ACC, it won’t be easy. The ACC is as deep as it’s been in recent memory. Last year, when SU barely snuck into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed, it had key wins over Texas A&M and Connecticut in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. This year, the Orange does not have those same marquee victories.

SU had a chance to notch its first decent win, but couldn’t get the job done on Saturday.

Frank Howard gave Syracuse little production

With just over six minutes left in the game and the Orange trailing by four, Frank Howard dribbled out of bounds as the ball slipped out of his grasp. It was his sixth turnover of the day and he scored just four points.

Howard entered the game among the best in the country in assists and atop the ACC in helpers per game. He only notched four against the Hoyas on Saturday.

When he subbed out, Gillon manned point guard responsibilities. Gillon finished with 13 points, but as Boeheim has noted throughout the year, Syracuse needs both of its point guards to compete.

Tyler Lydon has career day

As the sophomore forward’s shot has gone in and out of slumps, head coach Jim Boeheim has repeatedly urged him to score inside. In the first half, he scored six points in the paint and nailed a 3 from the top of the key.

Early in the second half, Lydon snuck in behind John Gillon and followed up Gillon’s missed layup with another putback. On the defensive end, Lydon grabbed a defensive board, leading to a Dajuan Coleman basket.

After Syracuse turned to the press with around eight minutes to play, Lydon made a nifty jumper in the lane to cut the game to just a one-point deficit at 55-54.

With about five minutes to play, Lydon stepped back at the 3-point line and caught a pass from John Gillon. The basket cut the deficit to one again, 60-59. As he trotted down the court, he pointed toward SU fans and yelled. He brought life to the 25,131 fans in the Dome and Syracuse’s offense all game.

He posted up on the low block with about a minute remaining and converted a hook shot to pull SU within three at 69-66.

Lydon finished with a career-high 29 points, but it wasn’t enough.

Published on December 17, 2016 at 2:19 pm