Pitarresi: SU loss not end of world

The eighth-ranked Syracuse Orange must have felt the way most Central New Yorkers do after a big snowstorm:

 

“How are we going to dig ourselves out of this mess?”

 

SU fell into a big hole early against Georgetown tonight and never climbed out, taking an 88-74 beating from the Hoyas. It was not the way to start an extremely rugged stretch of four games in 12 days (No. 8 Georgetown, No. 12 Notre Dame, No 1 Pittsburgh, No. 20 Louisville), but it isn’t the end of the world, especially if the Orange can rebound with a win against Notre Dame Saturday, when there will be somewhere around 30,000 screaming fans in the Carrier Dome. The league will be a can of worms from now until March.

 

SU might have been right in this game had not the Hoyas shot like demons (12 of 21 on 3-pointers) and had not Andy Rautins gone out with a bruised knee midway through the first half. However, they also hurt themselves with poor foul shooting (10 of 23), too many turnovers (15, some of them just awful), and, at times, not enough composure.

 

Georgetown, on the other hand, seemed to have it together most of the time. The Hoyas play a disciplined offense – even more so when they have the lead – take time off the clock, and don’t do a lot to hurt themselves. I thought they might wilt in the wake of SU’s second-half run, but they had the answers. Tuesday we wrote about smarts, heart and the will to win. Georgetown was a little better in those departments tonight.

 

The Orange have some serious work ahead of them, but so does everybody else in the league. Again, it’s going to be fun to watch.