So many came before Otto Porter. Over the course of three-plus decades of epic clashes between Syracuse and Georgetown, dominant individual performances occasionally wrestled the spotlight away from the rivalry itself. In front of a record-breaking, thunderous crowd, Porter ensured his would be next.

Porter singlehandedly spoiled Syracuse’s going-away party to the rivalry by scoring 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting in No. 11 Georgetown’s 57-46 win over No. 8 Syracuse on Saturday. By the time Porter finished hitting shots from all over the floor, nearly all 35,012 fans left disappointed after witnessing SU’s 38-game home winning streak come to a crashing end.The Orange’s (22-5, 10-4 Big East) lack of defensive execution on Porter coupled with its own cold shooting cost it against the Hoyas (21-4, 11-3) in the season’s biggest game so far.

“Porter was the difference in the game. He played tremendously. He was great today,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “The other players really struggled and he had to make plays and he made them all day.”

Porter missed his first 3 of the game. It was a tease. He didn’t miss much after that. And he made a variety of shots.

After SU jumped out to an early 12-4 lead, Porter hit a short jumper from the right block that cut the Hoyas’ deficit to six. He hit a 3 from the left wing with about 4:30 left in the half. It gave Georgetown a 19-15 lead.

It also spearheaded the rest of Porter’s night. The more shots he knocked down, the more he took. The more shots he took, the more he knocked down. It was a constant headache for an Orange defense that repeatedly left him open on the outside.

“He played really well. He shot the ball real well,” Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams said. “We just needed to get out on him. He got some easy baskets and wide-open looks, which can’t happen.”

Porter put on a display in the second half, when he scored 17 of his points. He hit back-to-back 3s that put Georgetown up 32-29.

On the defensive end, he was just as dangerous. About eight minutes into the half, he stole the ball away from Orange guard Brandon Triche. Porter broke up the court for a fast-break jumper that gave the Hoyas a 36-31 lead.

At times, Porter hit head-scratching shots. With just less than five minutes remaining in the game, Georgetown guard Jabril Trawick penetrated Syracuse’s zone, drawing the defense. Porter stood alone on the left wing. Trawick sent a pass across the court to Porter. Triche raced over with an outstretched arm to try and contest it. But Porter got the shot off in time, and drew a foul from Triche.

Porter converted the four-point play, giving Georgetown a comfortable eight-point lead with 4:52 left.

“I don’t know how that went in,” Porter said of his 3. “I was speechless.”

So were the 35,012 in attendance, many of whom started filing out of the Dome in the closing minutes. Porter’s performance ensured Syracuse couldn’t make a come back.

Triche said it was easy for him to lose Porter at times because the Hoyas were so active in moving the basketball, and Porter could sneak behind him and get to the high post for open looks. By the time Triche or any other Syracuse defender recognized Porter on the arc, it was too late.

After the game, Boeheim hesitated to put Porter’s performance in a grouping of the best individual performances from the rivalry.

“There have been a lot of pretty good performances,” Boeheim said. “You’d have a pretty big group there. About 10 or 15 to be honest.”

There was Pearl Washington’s buzzer-beating, game-winning jumper in 1985 that gave Syracuse a 65-63 win over Georgetown. There was the Hoyas’ Charles Smith making a layup in the closing seconds to send Georgetown to a 69-68 win over the Orange in 1988. Then there was Gerry McNamara’s heroic performance in the 2006 Big East Tournament when he scored 15 points in the second half to beat the Hoyas 58-57.

Now there’s Otto Porter’s 33-point performance that turned the Carrier Dome crowd from raucous to awestruck.

The game was evenly matched in most areas. Georgetown shot 35.2 percent to Syracuse’s 34. Georgetown scored only two more points in the paint, while the Orange outrebounded the Hoyas by two.

Porter was the lone exception. He stood out. He grabbed the spotlight.

“I thought Porter was the difference in the game,” Boeheim said before a long pause. “By a lot.”

Published on February 23, 2013 at 6:14 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman