WASHINGTON, D.C. — Syracuse’s biggest run of the game came midway through the second half and was capped off when Frank Howard created a steal and drove hard, coast-to-coast, forcing a layup that Tyler Roberson needed to rebound and score on.

Georgetown’s lead had shrunk from 19 to 12 in 75 seconds. And it all happened with the seldom-used point guard running the offense.

“I’m happy I could play more,” Howard, a freshman, said. “I want to continue to give good minutes, no matter how many it is. Just always be ready to contribute to the team.”

Howard finished just 2-of-8 from the field and had four rebounds and two assists in No. 14 Syracuse’s (6-2) 79-72 loss to Georgetown (4-3) on Saturday. He came in for two minutes in the first half but played 11 in the second, establishing himself — at least for the moment — as the primary backup option at the point.

He was aggressive on offense, air-balling a running hook shot. But he showed ability in his first real chance to impact a game this season.

“It’s a tough game to get your most minutes in,” Trevor Cooney said. “I’m definitely proud of the way he played. He created plays for others, got in the lane, did really good things, played great defense.”

Syracuse interim head coach Mike Hopkins said the spike in minutes wasn’t an indication of how the depth chart will shake out in the future. Kaleb Joseph played just in the first half and didn’t record a single statistic in three minutes. The two will continue to battle for minutes.

But Howard showed that the battle was real for the first time this season. He scored on a rebound off an air-balled 3 to cut Georgetown’s lead to 15 seven minutes into the second half. His second score came off a turnover as the game felt out of reach with under a minute to go in the second half.

With Joseph’s inconsistent play and minutes off the bench, Howard executed on his chance to be the SU point guard.

“Frank had good minutes,” starting point guard Michael Gbinije said. “He came in and was aggressive. He did a good job of getting in the lane and making plays for us.”

Published on December 5, 2015 at 6:22 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3