Neither Syracuse nor Georgetown is off to a strong start this season, but records are largely irrelevant when the former Big East rivals square off.

Their 98th all-time meeting takes place Saturday afternoon in Syracuse, N.Y., where the Orange will look to avenge a 79-75 loss from a season ago. They led that game by 10 at halftime before the Hoyas rallied behind freshman Aminu Mohammed, who posted career highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds to go with five assists.

Mohammed entered the NBA draft after one season, leaving Georgetown (5-5) to rely on guards Primo Spears (16.7 points), Brandon Murray (16.0) and Jay Heath (14.5) this season.

The Hoyas’ trio combined for 54 points in a 75-68 win over Siena on Wednesday.

“You have to play two halves. You’ve got to play a complete game,” Murray said. “Honestly, we’ve had games where we’ve had stretches where we can show our capabilities of what we can do, but we haven’t been able to sustain a whole game, so that was just the message.”

The Orange (5-4) rolled over Oakland 95-66 on Tuesday as Joseph Girard III and Jesse Edwards registered 18 points apiece. Girard knocked down four 3-pointers, while Edwards finished 9 of 9 from the field.

“We knew coming in that they were smaller and size was a factor,” Edwards said. “I was just trying to get inside as much as possible and get open to get the ball.”

Edwards paces the Orange in scoring (15.1) and rebounding (11.1), while Girard (14.7 points) has made 24 3-pointers, 13 more than anyone else on the team.

Freshman Judah Mintz chipped in 10 points after scoring in single figures in each of his previous three games.

Syracuse holds a 52-45 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to 1930.

“I understand it,” Mintz said. “We all know the rivalry. We may not be in the Big East, but we play each other for a reason. We want to win the rivalry game.”

–Field Level Media