Just how intense the rivalry has been is reflected by Boeheim's record against the Hoyas. The second-winningest coach in Division I history, Boeheim is just 37-35 despite an overall record of 912-309, a 74.8 winning percentage.
Georgetown has won nine straight, the longest current winning streak in the league, and the Hoyas will host Syracuse in two weeks.
Fair had 13 points and seven rebounds and James Southerland scored 13 points to pace Syracuse, while Carter-Williams had seven points and five assists.
Syracuse rallied in the final minute of the first half to take a two-point lead, but the Hoyas erased the deficit quickly with a 10-2 spurt early in the second half keyed by Porter. He hit a 3 from the right wing, another from the left side, then stole a pass by Carter-Williams and hit a pullup jumper in the lane. D'Vaun Smith-Rivera's 3 from the left corner slammed both sides of the rim and dropped in for a 39-31 lead with 11:16 to play.
Southerland swished a 3 from the top of the key off a feed from Carter-Williams to stop the skid and Georgetown was called for a shot-clock violation when its slow-paced attack backfired, but the Orange could not muster another rally.
Syracuse used its home-crowd advantage — the Dome was rocking like the days of yesteryear — to run off a 10-2 spurt early. Triche and Southerland hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips down court as the Hoyas sputtered, missing often in close and from afar. The Hoyas made just one basket, a foul-line jumper by Porter after a block by Fair — in the first 9 minutes while missing their first eight attempts from long range.
"Offensively, we did have them on the ropes in the first half," Triche said. "But we ended up shooting a bunch of jump shots (and missing), and they got right back in the game."
The play was spirited, as it usually is when these teams meet. But after a flurry of misses under the Georgetown basket, the Hoyas maintained possession and Porter began to display the form that has made him a favorite to win Big East player of the year honors.
The 6-foot-8 sophomore swished a 3 from the wing to start a 17-3 spurt in which he scored 14 points. He then converted a slam off a turnover by Rakeem Christmas to give the Hoyas their first lead, and hit another 3 and a baseline jumper to complete the rush and put Georgetown up 21-15 as a hush fell over the Dome.
Carter-Williams stopped the slide with a three-point play for the Orange. Fair followed with a baseline floater and Southerland drained a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer in the final seconds off a feed from Triche.
The Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry was unmatched in its heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s and helped transform the Big East into the behemoth it's been for so long. Future games between the teams — both schools have indicated they want to keep playing — will have a different feel after this season.
What a rivalry it's been.
The teams have played 88 times since 1930 and 20 of those games were decided by one or two points, and 12 were settled in overtime.
No wonder that students camped all week outside the Dome to be part of the crowd. Not only did they get to witness history, Boeheim and assistants Mike Hopkins and Adrian Autry stopped by on Friday with coffee and refreshments in appreciation of their support.
In that memorable game 33 years ago, the Hoyas beat Syracuse 52-50 in the last regularly scheduled game at Manley when Eric "Sleepy" Floyd made free throws with 5 seconds to play. Afterward, Thompson Jr. declared — "Manley Field House is now officially closed" — and a rivalry was born.
This was the 72nd crowd of greater than 30,000 for a Syracuse men's game, and the Hoyas were the opponent 17 times.
Not a bad way to go out.
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