Depleted Georgetown beats old Big East rival Syracuse 89-79

WASHINGTON (AP) >> Mac McClung scored 26 points to give Patrick Ewing his first coaching victory against Syracuse and help a Georgetown team depleted by a rash of transfers beat its old Big East rival 89-79 Saturday afternoon.

The 6-foot-2- McClung put the Hoyas on his shoulders in their first home game since legal matters involving three players came to light and four said they’d be transferring. Josh LeBlanc, Galen Alexander and Myron Gardner entered the NCAA’s transfer portal after being accused of burglary and harassment, and James Akinjo — who was not connected — also announced he was leaving the program.

Losing four players in quick succession forced Georgetown (73) to use walk-on George Muresan, son of retired NBA player Gheorghe Mursean. In spite of that, the Hoyas got a big day from

McClung and 19 by center Omer Yurtseven to win their third game in a row.

Syracuse dropped to 5-5 for its worst 10-game start in 44 seasons under Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim. Son Buddy Boeheim scored 25 points, but the Orange committed 24 fouls to the Hoyas’ 14.

Georgetown made 11 3-points and led by as many as 16, building enough of a cushion that a late Syracuse run fell short. MAD ORANGE Syracuse wasn’t all that happy with the officiating most of the afternoon, and it boiled over when Marek Dolezaj was whistled for a blocking foul in the middle of the first half. Boeheim and the rest of the bench erupted and was assessed a team technical foul. CAREY EJECTED Late in the second half, injured Syracuse guard Jalen Carey was ejected while sitting on the bench for tripping Georgetown’s Terrell Allen. Carey is out indefinitely with a broken thumb. OUTREBOUNDED Rebounding has been a problem all season so far for Syracuse, and it hurt again Saturday. Georgetown had 14 offensive rebounds to Syracuse’s five and dominated 16-5 in second-chance points.