No. 13 Georgetown beats No. 8 Syracuse 88-74

[January 15, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- DaJuan Summers scored 21 points and No. 13 Georgetown had its best 3-point shooing game of the season in an 88-74 victory over No. 8 Syracuse on Wednesday night.

Austin Freeman scored 19 points and was 4-of-5 on 3-pointers as the Hoyas (12-3, 3-2 Big East) went 12-for-21 from behind the arc.

Eric Devendorf had 20 points and four 3-pointers for the Orange (16-2, 4-1), who had won seven straight, while Rick Jackson had 17 points and Paul Harris added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

In a game that often featured bruising play in the paint, Georgetown pulled away with the long-distance shooting. The Hoyas set a season high for 3-point percentage (57.1) and tied their season high for 3-pointers.

Georgetown took over the game with a 21-4 run starting midway through the first half that gave the Hoyas a 37-18 lead 5 1/2 minutes later.

The run was sparked by two 3-pointers by sophomore Nikita Mescheriakov, who had only two field goals all season entering the game. Mescheriakov's first 3 was answered by Syracuse's Jonny Flynn, but he immediately followed with another from the top of the key.

That basket started a string of 14 straight points by Georgetown, including thunderous dunks by Summers and Henry Sims.

Georgetown stretched the lead to 47-26 when Freeman converted a four-point play with 2 minutes left in the first half.

The Orange scored the first eight points of the second half and cut the lead to 53-45 on a dunk by Jackson with a little more than 15 minutes left in the game. That was the only time in the second half Syracuse would get within single digits, as Georgetown stopped the rally when Summers hit another 3-pointer.

[Associated Press]

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