Sunday, October 11, 2020

Championship - 1984 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

Madison Square Gardens
New York, NY
Mar 11, 1984

Syracuse Orange(men) vs Georgetown Hoyas

The Georgetown Hoyas came into this game with a record of 25-3 (14-2 Big East) during the regular season. Their two conference losses were both at home against Villanova and St. John's. Their only non-conference loss was against DePaul. They finished the regular season ranked 2nd nationally.

The Syracuse Orangemen came into the Big East Conference Tournament with a record of 19-7 (12-4 Big East) during the regular season. Two of their four conference losses were to Georgetown. Their other two conference losses were to Boston College and Villanova. They finished the regular season ranked 16th nationally.

Georgetown made it to the conference final by beating Providence in the quarter-finals and St. John's in the semi-finals by an average of 15.5 points. Syracuse made it to the conference final by beating Connecticut in the quarter finals (by 15 points) and Villanova in the semi-finals (by 1 point). 

This was the 4th time the Hoyas and the Orange met in the Big East Tournament but the the first time that they met in the final. 

1980 (SF) Georgetown wins 87-81 and goes on to win the Big East Tournament
1981 (SF) Syracuse wins 67-73 and goes on to win the Big East Tournament
1982 did not meet in the Big East Tournament; Georgetown wins the Big East Tournament
1983 (QF) Syracuse wins 79-72 but then loses in the semi-finals to Boston College

Syracuse got the early lead and was up by 1 at the first TV timeout. The video I was watching jumped ahead at that point about 4 minutes of games time. Georgetown was up by 1 when the game resumed. The Hoyas made several attempts to stretch the lead but couldn't get more than 5 points ahead of the Orangemen. The Orangemen turned up the heat and took the lead briefly. The score was tied at 31 with 4 minutes left in the half.

The video fast forwarded again. This time it skipped 12 minutes ahead to 12 minutes left in the second half. Syracuse was up 45-44 at this point after being down by 5 at the half. The lead went back and forth for a few minutes but Syracuse took the lead 54-50 with 5:33 left in the game. They pushed that lead up to 5 after an intentional foul was called on one of the Hoyas and held on to the lead but the game started to slow down as more fouls were called.

The Hoyas tied the game 61-61 with just under 2 minutes to go in the game. Syracuse responded with a basket by Pearl Washington. It took Georgetown a couple attempts but they responded with a basket to tie the game 63-63 with 45 seconds to go in the game. The Orangemen maintained possession for almost all of the last 45 seconds but were unable to score.

Georgetown continued to play strong early in the overtime period. The Hoyas scored the first 7 points to take a 63-70 lead before Syracuse finally added to their tally with a couple free throws. Syracuse looked like they had run out of gas. Hawkings, one of their starters, fouled out towards the end of regulation. Washington, the other star on their team, shrank in the last minutes of regulation and then into the overtime period. Syracuse was outscored 19-8 in overtime. The Hoyas won the game 71-82.

This looked like it was going to be a great game and it was until the Orangemen ran out of steam. The Hoyas were just too strong. I would prefer to see the game in it's entirety but I could only find the abridged version on YouTube.

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