Sophomore guard James Southerland has netted nine points off the bench to help the Syracuse Orange (No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) take a 33-23 halftime lead against No. 11 Georgetown Hoyas in a Big East Conference contest at the Verizon Wireless Center in Washington D.C. Georgetown has nine turnovers, while Syracuse has just four.
The Orange (23-6, 10-6 Big East) used a 9-2 run, led by seven points from Southerland, to take a double-digit lead heading into the locker room. Both teams are trying to stay in the hunt for a two-round bye in the upcoming 16-team Big East Tournament, March 8-12. The top-four conference teams earn a two-round bye, the next four get a one-round bye, while the rest of the eight teams play first-round games Tuesday, March 8.
Senior point guard Scoop Jardine has scored seven points and dished out seven assists for SU. Teammate senior forward Rick Jackson also has seven points and four rebounds. Overall, SU is 14-of-32 (43.8 percent) from the floor and 4-of-13 (30.8) from behind the 3-point line.
Senior guard Austin Freeman has a team-best seven points for the Hoyas (21-7,10-6), who scored the game's first basket, but never led after that. Georgetown shot 8-of-23 (34.6) on field goals and just 2-of-12 (16.7) on 3-pointers. The rebound margin is tied at 16.