Georgetown Trails Syracuse 23-21 At Halftime

After hitting just three of their first 15 shots including 0-8 from three-point range, the Georgetown Hoyas were able to combat early shooting woes and piece together a solid final 10 minutes to trail Syracuse by just 2 points at halftime.

Feb 23, 2013; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Michael Carter-Williams (1) drives to the basket against the defense of Georgetown Hoyas guard Jabril Trawick (55) during the first half at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Both teams were making poor shot selections, shooting a combined 16-59 (27%) from the field in the first half. Syracuse played an all-around game on the defensive side of the ball, out-blocking the Hoyas six to one and out-rebounding them 21-17. However, two long three-pointers by James Southerland and Brandon Triche made Syracuse overly confident shooting from the three-point arc, leading to 12 failed three-point attempts in the half. Georgetown suffered a similar fate from outside the arc, hitting just two of thirteen three-point attempts, however they managed to take much smarter shots in the final 10 minutes of the half.

The key for Georgetown heading into the second half will be not falling into the trap of taking any shot they can out of desperation. The Syracuse defense poses a huge threat, but a bad shot, the way the Hoyas have been shooting, is just as good as handing the Orange the basketball. Drive the ball to the hoop, draw fouls, and hit your free throws. And don’t rely on Otto Porter to do everything, because at some point he’ll be facing double-teams on every possession, and then who do you turn to?

If the first half is any indication of how the final minutes of this game will go, it will certainly be a great final chapter to one of the all-time great rivalries in college basketball.

The second half is scheduled to start around 5:10 EST on CBS Sports.