Syracuse Honors Pearl, But Falls to Hoyas

By Lauren Walsh

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A moving tribute to a Syracuse great paired with the renewal of a bitter rivalry made for an enthusiastic Carrier Dome crowd on Saturday.

Syracuse honored the late Pearl Washington with a halftime ceremony that revealed his number “31” in the center of the letter “S” on Jim Boeheim Court. Players and fans alike donned cursive letters across their chests, players in special Syracuse uniforms, and fans in orange shirts with “Pearl” written across the front.

Not to mention, the Orange welcomed Georgetown to the Dome for the Hoyas first time playing in Syracuse since February 23, 2013.

SU continued its hot-and-cold performances of late and fell to Hoyas 78-71. Tyler Lydon led the way for the Orange with a career-high 29-point performance, but Boeheim wasn’t happy with the team’s performance as a whole.

“Right now we’re making too many mistakes,” said Boeheim. “We’re not doing enough things right to win the game.”

Lydon shot the ball well from all over the court and also added nine rebounds and two assists to his totals.

“Tyler was aggressive I thought,” said Boeheim. “He was tremendous inside, outside, post-ups. He played tremendous basketball today.”

Boeheim also stressed that one player cannot do it all and Syracuse needs more production from multiple guys.

“We have a lot of potential, but potential doesn’t mean much when you’re not doing whatever it takes to make that come to be,” added Andrew White III on the topic of other players contributing to the scoring. “So it’s kind of an illusion right now because we’re not as good of a team as we should be.”

Boeheim emphasized the need for guards specifically to play better in order for Syracuse to produce and win games.

The Orange made 14 of 25 free throws compared to Georgetown’s 20 of 23 free throws made. Syracuse was out-rebounded on the day 41 to 30.

Boeheim mentioned Tyus Battle as part of the insufficient guard play due to the fact that he did not practice all week. He said Battle was just cleared yesterday and was not fully ready to be back in games.

Georgetown’s L.J. Peak and Rodney Pryor led the scoring for the Hoyas with 21 and 20 points on the day. Peak was seven of 12 from the field and brought down eleven rebounds.

Syracuse is now 6-4 and has a quick turn-around with a 7:00 game on Monday against Eastern Michigan in the Carrier Dome.