Epps was a perfect 7 for 7 from the field in the second half

Jayden Epps, of your Georgetown Hoyas, was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week after his performance at the Syracuse Orange pushed the Hoyas to a win in the age-old rivals’ 100th meeting. Epps led the way for the Hoyas with 27 points (11-15 FG, 4-6 3PT), shooting a perfect 7 for 7 from the field in the second half, including 3 threes. This is the first BEPOTW award for Georgetown since Mac McClung in 2019.

Georgetown looked solid down the stretch, especially when changing up some zone and man defensive looks in the last 4 minutes.

The question is whether the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry continues. No doubt that each alumni base would love to keep it going and Ed Cooley and Adrian Autry have both said they would like to keep it going. Whether the calendars and conference season creeping earlier allow it is another question. Georgetown fans would undoubtedly prefer they don’t take a year off before renewing the series.

The Hoyas always seem to need to infuse some nonconference games to the schedule and—as may folks around this lunch blog have proposed—it makes too much sense to not alternate home-and-home series with Syracuse and Maryland so that season ticket holders always have at least one home nonconference rivalry game to look forward to before the BIG EAST season starts.

Here are the links:

DMV Star of the Week – Jayden Epps | House-Enterprise | Road to the Garden

The 75-71 win at Syracuse felt like a Georgetown team getting over the hump in winning a big road game, and it was the Hoyas star guard to lead the way.

Junior Guard Jayden Epps scored a game-high 27 points in the win, shooting an efficient 11-15 from the field, including 4-6 from three. Along with the outpouring on the scoresheet, Epps added 4 assists and 2 rebounds in the win.

Head Coach Ed Cooley’s group is finally performing at a higher level. The question now becomes whether they can keep this momentum going as the team enters conference play.

Jayden Epps, Georgetown get by Syracuse in 100th meeting | Field Level Media

Epps essentially iced it with 21.4 seconds to go, as he came around a pick and rolled in a layup to make it 74-69.

Neither team led by more than five during a competitive first half that ended at 37-37. Davis had 11 points and Lampkin notched 10 in the opening half for Syracuse, while Georgetown was led in the first half by Epps and Sorber with 10 points apiece.

The Hoyas opened the second half with buckets from Sorber and Peavy, grew their lead to 54-46 on Epps’ transition layup with 13:45 remaining.

Georgetown beats Syracuse late with 2-3 zone; Cooley invokes Boeheim | Nunes Magician

Cooley referred to the victory as by far the “best win we’ve had” since he’s been the head coach of the Hoyas. He played mostly man-to-man in this game, but employed a 2-3 zone in both halves, an identity of Syracuse in seasons past under former coach Jim Boeheim.

“Coach Boeheim is either clapping or he’s cussing me out,” Cooley remarked post-game.

Georgetown worked on the zone all week in preparation for the Syracuse game. It was part of the game plan. Syracuse might continue to see zones this season as 27.1% outside shooting by the Orange ranks No. 340 in the country. In this game particularly, Syracuse center Eddie Lampkin was so effective down low versus man defense, Cooley went 2-3 zone to limit post-touches and, he said, to limit foul trouble.

Hoping that Syracuse basketball-Georgetown continues while adding other Big East foes | Inside the Loud House

Per an article from Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com, ‘Cuse head coach Adrian Autry and Hoyas boss Ed Cooley issued their support for this affair to continue onward.

Cooley said in part, “It brings a lot of joy to the college game, of which, right now, with the state of college athletics, we need something to hang our hat on. As long as I’m head coach, I want to play this game each and every year.”

Added Autry: “There’s no question I would like to continue this It’s a great rivalry. As we both make strides to get it back to where we’d both like to be, I think both fan bases and both alumni (bases) would like to keep it going as well.”

It remains to be seen when the programs will square off again, but I’d be stunned if it’s not in near future. At the same time, as I’ve noted in other recent columns, I’d like to see Syracuse basketball schedule some games, when feasible, versus other former Big East rivals.

Syracuse and Georgetown coaches express interest in extending series: Should it continue? | Nunes Magician

The crowd of 17,187 that showed up Saturday was certainly loud and engaged, but as one of the lowest marks for attendance in the dome for Syracuse-Georgetown, it’s indicative of where interest in the rivalry stands. So too is an ACC Network airing. For the older crowd that grew up with the rivalry in the 1980s when it was at its pinnacle — and for Autry who went 6-3 against the Hoyas in his early 1990 playing days — the series still holds meaning. The same can’t be said for younger fans and the current players on both teams.

The problem for Syracuse? In the time since the Orange left the Big East for the ACC, the series has been split 5-5. That’s good for a rivalry, but the hang up for Syracuse has been winning against a down Hoyas program hasn’t helped the non-conference metrics (NET, quadrants, analytics and strength of schedule), or worse, losing has only dragged those numbers further down.

The case for ticket sales is dwindling. What’s left might be history and, perhaps with Syracuse intent on heavily recruiting the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area for talent, playing Georgetown makes sense. That also might not be enough to keep the series alive.

Notebook: Syracuse defense shows signs of improvement | Syracuse Rivals

Because both teams struggled from behind the arc today, most of the scoring came from inside the paint. This led to a battle between senior Eddie Lampkin Jr. and freshman Thomas Sorber, who scored 18 and 16 points, respectively.

Lampkin had the slight edge in points, though Sorber’s team came away with the win.

The positive news for Syracuse is that Eddie Lampkin played 35 minutes, the highest amount since the overtime matchup against Youngstown St.

Lampkin downplayed the battle between the two bigs, calling it “just a regular game.”

Syracuse men’s basketball: instead of building off a Sweet 16 appearance, the Orange program went spiraling | Nunes Magician

Add to that the feeling that perhaps it was Gerry McNamara who should have been next in line and you can understand why some fans have been less patient with Autry through his first 42 games in charge. This isn’t a scenario unique to Syracuse as Kyle Neptune, Jay Wright’s successor at Villanova has faced a similar level of scrutiny through his first two-plus years leading the Wildcats. No one wants to be the guy to replace the guy and that’s why most schools replace legends with someone “from the family”.

Last year Syracuse got to 20 wins but never received serious NCAA consideration and the roster was turned over. Like his predecessor, Autry might have encouraged some of those moves and now he’s left trying to piece together a bunch of new parts that aren’t fitting. It’s the new landscape and college coaches need to be able to adapt to the roster turnover.

Press Release from GUHoyas:

Jayden Epps Named BIG EAST Player of the Week

WASHINGTON – Georgetown University men’s basketball junior guard Jayden Epps was named the BIG EAST Player of the week as announced by the league office in New York on Monday. The honor comes after a 1-0 week for Georgetown as the Blue & Gray defeated longtime rival Syracuse 75-71 in the 100th overall meeting between the two programs.

JAYDEN EPPS (JUNIOR / GUARD / 6-2 / 190 / Norfolk, Va.)

• In a 1-0 week where the Hoyas faced longtime rival Syracuse for the 100th time, Jayden Epps lifted the Hoyas to a 75-71 road win at JMA Wireless Dome.
• Epps poured in a season-high 27 points on 73.3% shooting (11-15).
• He went 4-for-6 from behind the arc and dished out four assists while grabbing a pair of rebounds.
• The junior tallied the last three field goals for the Blue & Gray, managing a 3-pointer to regain the lead (67-66) while his layup at 3:34 gave the Hoyas a lead they would not relinquish. Finally, his layup with 22 seconds remaining made it a two-possession game and put it out of reach for the Orange.
• It was his second 20-point outing of the season.
• This is the first Player of the Week accolade of Epps’ career and the second weekly accolade of the season as he was named to the Honor Roll on November 25. For his career, the Norfolk, Virginia native has earned Honor Roll recognition three times.
• The BIG EAST Player of the Week nod is the first for the Blue & Gray since December 16, 2019 when Mac McClung garnered the recognition.

UP NEXT

Georgetown will return to action Wednesday night when the Hoyas host Creighton in the District to tipoff BIG EAST play. Wednesday’s contest is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Tom McCarthy calling the play-by-play and Steve Lappas and Hoya alum Roy Hibbert providing analysis. The game can be heard locally on Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin, in his 51st season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.