The ‘dead’ spot in Syracuse’s 2-3 zone was dead. The one place within SU’s defensive structure where an opponent cannot be allowed an open catch or shot was missing its biggest protector.

Rick Jackson’s four personal fouls transformed the power forward from his usual role of bully into that of a pushover without a choice. He couldn’t flock to Georgetown’s backdoor cutters to physically contest shots. And he couldn’t play aggressive.

The spot he normally commands looked much less intimidating.

‘We were stopping them,’ SU shooting guard Brandon Triche said. ‘Basically, for 35 minutes we stopped them from getting those backdoor cuts. The last few plays, I think we froze up a little bit.’

SU head coach Jim Boeheim said the Orange played its best defense of the year for 35 minutes. In the final five, the zone lost its flare. A handful of slip-ups and one backbreaking backdoor cut were all the Hoyas needed to pull away for the 64-56 win. A five-minute defensive breakdown negated all the positives.

With 2:08 left in the game, Hoya guard Jason Clark ran to the open spot next to the SU basket. He received a pass from Austin Freeman and converted the layup.

It was exactly what the SU coaching staff preached to the Orange 27 hours earlier on the same court during practice. Assistant coach Mike Hopkins knew the Hoyas’ plan of attack, and he told the team. Syracuse had to defend Georgetown’s angled cuts through the 2-3 zone that would be used over and over again.

But when it mattered most, the zone couldn’t stop it.

‘They got one backdoor,’ Boeheim said of Clark’s layup.

In the last five minutes, the nightmare came to fruition. At the back of the zone, Jackson — with the four fouls — had no choice but to play soft. Clark’s layup increased the Georgetown lead to six as Jackson, Triche, Kris Joseph and the rest of the defense sped around defensively, only to freeze up at the crucial moment.

Frozen stiff was the last thing the SU defense was prior to the game’s final stretch. Alive and fluid, the five Syracuse players hounded Georgetown’s triumvirate of guards around the zone. Even from the 14-minute mark of the second half until the final six minutes — a stretch during which SU played without starters Jackson and Triche.

With freshmen Dion Waiters, C.J. Fair and Baye Moussa Keita garnering the playing time in the middle part of the second half, the Orange maintained its lockdown on Georgetown. Following a successful first half during which SU held the Hoyas to 40 percent shooting, the freshmen muzzled the penetration of Georgetown veteran guards Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Clark.

Waiters baited Clark into risks that resulted in effortless SU steals. Moussa Keita harangued the Hoya basket for five total blocks. And Fair used his sinewy length to force the Hoyas into low-percentage shots.

The three freshmen gave SU an advantage while Jackson was out. The team trailed 39-38 when Jackson left and had a 53-50 lead when he returned with 5:37 left.

But when he and Triche came back, the 3s Fair was contesting were suddenly wide open. There, the breakdown started.

‘We missed assignments,’ SU point guard Scoop Jardine said. ‘They made a couple of 3s where I guess our forwards were trying to cheat out to the 3-pointers. They did make some 3s, and those guys cut. They made some tough plays down the stretch. They are a veteran team.’

Veteran enough to pounce on SU at the end.

When Hollis Thompson hit a wide-open 3 with 3:50 left to tie the game, it brought Tuesday’s practice to life. From nearly the identical spot on the floor, SU graduate assistant coach Gerry McNamara flung 3s hard off the backboard as soon as he received passes. With McNamara simulating Georgetown’s shooters, Hopkins read his guards as they shifted to the shooter in the zone.

But no one got out to Thompson. And he buried the shot. It was the turning point. His 3 pried open the zone, and Freeman and Clark penetrated for three easy layups in the game’s final moments. The last of which was Clark’s backdoor.

Without what he called his ‘killer edge,’ Jackson and the rest of the zone walked off the floor disappointed for a simple error in execution.

‘I don’t want to say it is a mental lapse,’ Joseph said. ‘They got the backdoor. Execution, you know. Missed directions.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on February 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm