The Syracuse basketball program (ranked No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) will try to add to its current winning streak of two games and recent success against Big East Conference rival, No. 11 Georgetown Hoyas, Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome (7 p.m. on ESPN). The Orange (20-4, 7-4), who have beaten the Hoyas (18-5, 7-4) in three of their last four meetings, ended a four-game losing streak last week by earning road wins over No. 9/10 Connecticut Huskies and South Florida Bulls.
Wednesday night's matchup will also feature SU trying to help its head coach, Jim Boeheim, record his 850th victory. Boeheim, who's in the midst of his 35th season at SU, needs just one win to join Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski as the only NCAA Division I men's basketball head coaches to accomplish the milestone.
To earn that honor, Boeheim will need forwards, senior Rick Jackson and junior Kris Joseph, to be at their best. Currently, Joseph leads the team in scoring average (15.0) but shot just 7-of-19 from the field (.368 percent) and netted 12.5 points-per game in SU's two victories last week. However, Jackson, who was named to the Big East honor roll on Monday, has been consistently good. Entering Wednesday's game, Jackson leads the Big East in rebounding and field-goal percentage.
The Hoyas began Big East play losing four of their first five games. Since then, Georgetown has rattled off six straight victories, which feature beating the St. John's Red Storm, Jan. 26, No. 9/10 Villanova Wildcats, Jan. 29, and No. 16/17 Louisville Cardinals, Jan. 31.
Georgetown's best player is the Big East Preseason Player Of The Year, senior guard Austin Freeman. Freeman is a lethal 3-point shooter (.457 in 116 attempts) who ranks third in the conference in scoring (18.7 ppg). Currently, the Hoyas are 10-1 when Freeman scores at least 20 points. Junior guard Jason Clark (.388) and senior guard Chris Wright (.315) can also make shots from behind the 3-point arc. In the middle, Georgetown features 6-foot-9 senior forward Julian Vaughn.
As a team, Georgetown is second in the nation in field-goal percentage (50.2) and are second in the conference in 3-point percentage (38.4).
Information for this piece was provided by GoHoyas.com and SUAthletics.com.