SU Hosts Hoyas In "Big Monday" Battle - Syracuse University Athletics

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the second straight week #4/4 Syracuse (19-1, 6-1) will be featured on ESPN's “Big Monday.” Orange alum Sean McDonough and company will be at the Carrier Dome Monday, Jan. 25 when Syracuse hosts archrival #7/11 Georgetown (15-3, 6-2) at 7 p.m. The contest is the Orange's fifth against a nationally-ranked opponent this season and the first of two games against the Hoyas this season.

Tickets for the game are available online, by phone (1-888-DOMETIX) or in person at the Carrier Dome Box office. In addition to live television coverage on ESPN, fans can listen to the action via the Syracuse ISP Radio Network and its flagship TK 99 (99.5 FM). The audio stream of the radio broadcast will be available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.

In addition, Syracuse University student-athletes will be helping collect donations for the Red Cross to benefit those affected by the earthquakes in Haiti. Red Cross collection cans will be placed at the gates of the Carrier Dome and in the backcourt for Monday's game against Georgetown. All the money donated will go directly to the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.

Orange head coach Jim Boeheim recently pledged $5,000 to the cause through the “Hoops for Haiti” telethon.

ABOUT THE ORANGE
Syracuse extended its current winning streak to six games with a 76-71 home victory against Marquette Saturday. A season-record crowd of 29,011 was on hand to witness the triumph. The Orange led by 17 with a little more than three minutes to play, but 11-0 run by the Golden Eagles made it close and the Orange held on for the five-point victory.

Junior forward Wes Johnson turned in another spectacular performance. He played all 40 minutes for the second straight outing and finished with a game-best 22 points and 15 rebounds. Johnson's board work spurred the Orange to a 46-21 advantage on the glass over the smaller Golden Eagles.

Sophomore Kris Joseph recorded the second double-double of his career with 14 points and personal-best 11 rebounds in 33 minutes.

Balanced offense has been the key for Syracuse all season and the Orange currently has five players averaging at least 10 points a game. Johnson leads the way at 17.3 points per contest. He's followed by senior Andy Rautins (10.4 ppg), freshman Brandon Triche (10.2 ppg), senior Arinze Onuaku (10.2 ppg) and Joseph (10.0 ppg).

PLAYING TIME GOES UP AS COMPETITION HEATS UP
Johnson leads the Orange this season in minutes played per game (33.7) and he ranks third in the BIG EAST in average court time against conference opponents (38.0 mpg). He played the entire game for the second consecutive game Saturday versus Marquette and he's gone the distance in three of the team's seven league games thus far.

Johnson is second in rebound average against league foes at 10.9 boards per game. His top two rebounding performances of the year have both come in conference play. He secured a career-best 19 rebounds at Seton Hall, in addition to his 15 caroms Saturday versus Marquette.

JACKSON THROWS BLOCK PARTY
Junior forward Rich Jackson had his way defensively with Marquette Saturday. He totaled a career-best seven blocks against the Golden Eagles to increase his season average to 2.2 rejections per game, the fourth-best mark in the BIG EAST. His performance against the Golden Eagles represented the most blocks for an SU player since January of 2007 when Darryl Watkins had eight swats against Cincinnati.

Jackson is averaging 5.0 rejections over the last two games and he lists second in the BIG EAST in blocks per game against conference foes (2.7).

SCOUTING THE HOYAS

Georgetown has won four of its last five outings and comes into Monday night's encounter with a 15-3 overall mark, including a 6-2 record in BIG EAST play. Like Syracuse, the Hoyas were in action on Saturday and they defeated Rutgers at home by a comfortable margin, 88-63.

Georgetown has used the same starting five all season and possesses a three-headed offensive monster in sophomore Greg Monroe, junior Chris Wright and junior Austin Freeman. Monroe (15.2), Wright (15.1) and Freeman (15.6) are all averaging better than 15 points a game with Freeman leading the club. Monroe is Georgtown's best rebounder at 10.4 boards per game.

In addition to that trio, sophomore Jason Clark (10.6 ppg) and junior Julian Vaughn (8.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) have started every game.

The Hoyas have been stout defensively since the start of conference play. In BIG EAST games, they rank second in scoring defense (65.5 ppg), second in rebounding defense (31.3 rpg) and third in blocked shots per game (4.9).

John Thompson III, the son of legendary Hoya coach John Thompson Jr., is in his sixth season at the Georgetown helm. His teams have accumulated a 131-54 record during his tenure. Thompson will be gunning for his 200th college coaching victory Monday. He currently owns a career coaching record of 199-96.

THE SERIES

The Orange holds a slim 44-37 advantage in the all-time series with Georgetown and is 29-10 against the Hoyas in games played in Syracuse. The Orange has captured four of the last six and nine of the last 12 series meetings. The two sides split a home-and-home series last year with each squad defending its home court. The Orange posted a 98-94 victory in overtime at the Carrier Dome last season, while the Hoyas claimed an 88-74 win at the Verizon Center.

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