Tyus Battle Absolutely Bails Syracuse Out Thanks To A Jumper With Less Than 3 Seconds Left

Well, we saw Georgetown and Syracuse, be, well, Georgetown and Syracuse. It was inconsistent. It was ugly for stretches. But, it came down to the end in a tight game involving Jim Boeheim and Patrick Ewing. It felt right.

What also felt right was Tyus Battle bailing Syracuse out from what would have been a fairly bad loss. Yes, Georgetown is improved, but you don’t lose as 12 point favorites at home against a team with a young backcourt. That can’t happen and luckily for Cuse fans it didn’t.

What was most impressive though? How Syracuse handled the last two possessions of the game. Instead of fouling and trying to stretch the game out, Syracuse decided to defend and hope for a stop, which would give them the ball with about 8 seconds to go. They got it, drawing a charge after defending for about 23 seconds and really frustrating Georgetown.

Then Battle happened. I was asked about Georgetown’s defense here. I don’t mind pressing here. In fact I’m for it. You want to waste as much time as possible and hope that there’s a fumble dribbling or just throwing off a couple of seconds beating the press. However, you have to force someone else to beat you. Coming out of the timeout, faceguard and double Battle. I go back to the end of the Florida State/Purdue game a couple weeks ago. FSU did just that, refusing to let Edwards get the ball. Purdue turned it over.

Was it closer than it should have been? Probably. Syracuse stole the game after that first half. All that matters though is it’s a win.