Some figures you’ll find interesting going into Saturday’s matchup between the long-time rivals.
The Syracuse Orange host the hated Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday. We’re not fans of one another, which you know. But that doesn’t mean we avoid being a little educated about the game, and the numbers around it (and the rivalry), too.
With luck, any Hoya fans that stop by can count high enough to keep up.
1
NCAA Tournament championships per school (somewhere, @NoEscalators is tweeting something to this effect). While the rivalry between the schools fueled college basketball’s growth in the 1980s, only Georgetown climbed the mountain then (1984). Syracuse was a frequent fixture during March Madness for decades, but won their only title in a memorable 2003 bout with Kansas.
4
Georgetown losses to double-digits seeds in the NCAA Tournament since 2010. Starting with 14-seed Ohio in 2010, the Hoyas lost four games against double-digit seeds in a four-year stretch. Follow-up losses included 11-seed VCU (2011), 11-seed NC State (2012) and of course, 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast (2013).
Syracuse has as many wins AS a double-digit seed in that same stretch.
5
Number of Final Four appearances for Georgetown, though they haven’t made it past the opening weekend since 2007, the last time they made the Final Four. Other trips include 1943, 1982, 1984 and 1985.
6
Number of Final Four appearances for Syracuse. Unlike the clustered Hoyas, SU has made it to the NCAA Tournament’s final weekend at least once in each of the last five decades (and twice in this one). You don’t need to be reminded, but those years include 1975, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2013 and 2016.
7
Wins each team recorded against one another in the Big East Tournament. Both teams won two in a row one time. Though the Orange captured the final MSG victory, a 58-55 overtime triumph in 2012.
31
Along with the fanfare around Georgetown returning to the Carrier Dome, Saturday is also Pearl Washington Day, to honor the late Syracuse great who passed away this year. His number 31 will be seen everywhere as both teams and attending fans will commemorate his legacy to the rivalry and the old Big East.
36
Wins each team had against one another as members of the Big East. Syracuse leads the all-time series, however, 49-42.
52.5
That’s Rodney Pryor’s three-point percentage on the season so far. The guard 32-of-61 from deep and if the Hoyas are going to beat the Orange once again, they’ll likely have to ride the hot hand of their leading scorer. Pryor is scoring 20.6 points per game. Syracuse has struggled with opponents’ leading scorers lately, which has Boeheim highly concerned about the defensive end.
53.3
Syracuse’s points per game against major opponents. While they’re scoring 76 per in their nine games thus far, more talented teams are holding the Orange far below that mark — including matching 50-point outputs vs. UConn and South Carolina. Georgetown’s no worldbeater on defense, allowing 71.3 points per, but Syracuse will need to shake off their recent shooting struggles in order to get past the Hoyas.
92
This is the 92nd all-time meeting between the two schools Though the series began in earnest in 1980, they first played one another all the way back in 1930 (a 40-18 Orangemen victory). See? Ugly, Big East-style basketball was even a thing then.
992*
Jim Boeheim’s actual win total as Syracuse men’s basketball coach, provided the Orange take care of business against Georgetown on Saturday. NCAA be damned, we’ll be celebrating 1,000 before this year’s up.
2012
This was the last time Syracuse beat Georgetown at the Carrier Dome. That four-year stretch between home wins (no, the teams didn’t play in all of those seasons) is the school’s longest drought since the 80s. Then, SU had two separate strings of three-year home losing streaks, 1982-85 and 1986-89.
35,012
The attendance figure the last time Georgetown came to Syracuse on Feb. 23, 2015 — an NCAA on-campus record. Expectations for this weekend’s attendance marks may not be as high given the holidays and students heading home for break, but still expect the Orange’s first big number of the season.
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Any other numbers of interest to share before Saturday’s game? Share below.
