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utside of Madison Square Garden, a documentary crew caught Syracuse and Georgetown fans desperately trying to get into the building to see the last rendition of the rivalry as it stood. The cameras showed a vendor saying that tickets were going for $1,000 while a voiceover of fans, coaches and analysts talked about how 2013 was the end of the Big East Tournament.
The “30 for 30” documentary, “Requiem for the Big East,” framed the story of the rise and fall of the basketball conference around this matchup between the Orange and the Hoyas one decade ago. The game itself, a 58-55 victory for Syracuse, not only reflected the rivalry and conference’s legendary status, but where the Orange once stood as a college basketball powerhouse.
“This is how everybody expected it to be,” SU forward C.J. Fair said after the game. “A big, tough battle between Syracuse and Georgetown.”
Backup SU forward Trevor Cooney said the rivalry made his own games against Georgetown special, but felt that there were more intense matchups with foes like Pittsburgh. Nolan Hart, a walk-on for the Orange at the time, felt the same about the Panthers being the bigger rivals, especially since they beat the Hoyas 7-of-11 times in his Syracuse career. But he also acknowledged that the rivalry will be intense in 2023.
“Games now aren’t as big as they were,” Hart said. “But you can guarantee that they’ll pack out that (Capital One Arena) for this game this weekend.”
SU was coming off a 2011-12 campaign where it lost only once in the regular season
but fell to Ohio State in the Elite Eight. The Orange lost core members of the roster in Dion Waiters and Fab Melo, yet retained Michael Carter-Williams, Fair and Rakeem Christmas. Jerami Grant, now a starter for the Portland Trail Blazers, came off the bench.
Syracuse’s talent led it to the fifth-best scoring offense in the country while the 2-3 zone produced the third-best scoring defense in the conference.
Syracuse’s Trevor Cooney possesses the ball against Georgetown’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera in the 2013 Big East semifinals. Cooney led SU in scoring in the first half and finished the game with 10 points and four rebounds. Daily Orange File Photo
“It was probably a stretch in terms of regular season dominance and postseason runs that was a three or four-year run probably as good as any other three or four year run in (Syracuse head coach Jim) Boeheim’s tenure,” said Michael Cohen, a men’s basketball beat writer for The Daily Orange that season.
Hart added that the 2012-13 team wasn’t the most talented Orange team he played for, but they got hot at the right time. The initial run to the Final Four started following a blowout loss to Georgetown.
On March 5, 2013, the Orange came to Washington D.C. to face the No. 5-ranked Hoyas led by future NBA forward Otto Porter Jr. Instead of a competitive matchup, Syracuse was dismantled 61-39. Georgetown limited SU to a 31.9% field goal percentage and one 3-pointer as the Orange had their lowest point total since the 1962-63 season.
This loss highlighted a 1-4 stretch to end the regular season, including losses to ranked opponents like Marquette and Louisville. With the losses piling up, Syracuse had a players-only meeting before the conference tournament in New York City.
Cooney said that the meeting focused on putting everything aside and moving forward for the most important stretch of the season. Hart noted that Fair, James Southerland and Brandon Triche all spoke during the meeting, stating that the Big East Tournament was a new season.
In the conference tournament, Syracuse immediately showed improvement. Southerland scored 20 points in wins over Seton Hall and Pittsburgh to set up the semifinals matchup against Georgetown. Before the game, Cooney remembered SU legends like Derrick Coleman talking to the team to remind them of the rivalry.
“He was around a lot up in Syracuse at away games and stuff,” Cooney said. “He always came to support us.”
From the start, the game was similar to many classic Syracuse-Georgetown battles. Whenever a player fought for a rebound off a missed shot, there was contact. Boeheim tweaked the 2-3 zone to move up more from the basket to counter the Hoyas’ big men like Porter Jr.
But early on, it didn’t matter against Porter Jr., who scored the first points of the contest on a layup where he faced contact from Carter-Williams. The physicality of the matchup led to a first half where the two teams shot a combined 17-of-49 (34.7%).
Syracuse forward C.J. Fair drives to the basket with Georgetown forward Mikael Hopkins defending him. Fair played all 45 minutes in the Big East semifinal. Daily Orange File Photo
The Hoyas jumped out to an early five-point lead, but Cooney sparked the Orange to a nine-point lead at halftime with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. With 3:35 left, Cooney nailed a 3-pointer from the corner before scoring a layup to extend Syracuse’s lead to 10.
While Cooney had a team-best first half, SU lacked any production from its starting center Christmas. Boeheim said Christmas, who played four minutes, was “sleeping” that night and that the team “couldn’t wake him up to get out there to play.” In the first 75 seconds of the second half, Christmas had a missed shot and committed a foul, causing Boeheim to sub him out.
In Christmas’ place, backup Baye Moussa Keita played 41 minutes and became one of the game’s critical performers. Midway through the second half, Keita converted a layup, facing heavy defense from Markel Hopkins, putting Syracuse up 45-37.
Despite Keita’s surprise impact, Georgetown started to claw back. After Keita’s layup, Hopkins drained a 3-pointer on the left wing to cut the deficit to five. In the final minutes of regulation, the Hoyas went on a 14-6 run. During the stretch, Georgetown never took the lead as Boeheim nervously sat in his chair.
But Keita helped the Orange against the surging Hoyas. With under four minutes remaining, Keita was fouled on a dunk attempt before making two high-pressure free throws.
Over two minutes later, Keita drew a reach-in foul off a rebound. Hoyas players were livid, but Keita composed himself for two more free throws. He nailed both. Hart said without a doubt that Keita was the team’s most valuable player during that contest.
“He was definitely a big guy that was older and had some experience that we could rely on in tough spots,” Cooney said of Keita.
Porter Jr. responded with free throws of his own with seven seconds remaining, and Carter-Williams rushed down the floor attempting a buzzer beater, which missed.
In the extra period, SU’s defense limited Georgetown to four points while Keita and Fair made clutch shots. Trailing by three with 10 seconds left, Porter Jr. faced a double team from Southerland and Triche and tried to pass out, but Fair stole the ball and sealed the victory.
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As his team celebrated, the documentary crew caught Boeheim hugging former Georgetown coach John Thompson, a former rival of his and the father of John Jr., the Hoyas’ coach at the time.
“Our guys really battled and found ways to win,” said Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins. “You think about how Pittsburgh and Georgetown play us, they’re like the nemesis, the kryptonite, the worst style. We did a really good job and made it a lot more difficult.”
With the in-conference rivalry officially over, the Orange focused their sights on Louisville, the eventual national champions. Cooney still remembered the painful defeat in the championship game against the Cardinals, while Hart recalled the Georgetown win being just another step to take.
The end of the “30 for 30” episode showed the court being broken down and the hoops coming down. Hart said he understood the historical significance of the moment.
“So it was kind of like a little bit of a payback for when John Thompson said, ‘The Manley Fieldhouse is closed,’ Hart said. “Our rivalry with Georgetown, the Big East at the Madison Square Garden was over at that moment. So we kind of got the last lap.”
Published on December 6, 2023 at 10:35 pm
Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com
