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After upsetting No. 7 North Carolina 86-79, Syracuse hit the road again for the first time in two weeks, taking on Georgia Tech, which entered Saturday’s matchup 14th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Syracuse jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead, but Georgia Tech climbed back and eventually saw itself take a nine-point first-half lead during a Syracuse drought. The Yellow Jackets entered halftime with a 34-30 lead, which they extended to as much as 10 in the second half. The Orange fought back to tie it at 52.

Playing a close game down the stretch for the fourth consecutive game, Maliq Brown and Quadir Copeland both fouled out and the Orange came up just short, losing 65-60. Georgia Georgia Tech (11-15, 5-11 ACC) snapped a four-game losing streak and picked up its second-straight win over Syracuse (16-10, 7-8 ACC).

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s loss to Georgia Tech:

Crunch time

Playing competitive games down the stretch has been a familiar sight for Syracuse in the past four games, and surely, it happened versus Georgia Tech. The Yellow jackets have upset Clemson, Duke and UNC, but have dropped 11 other conference games. With 3:54 remaining, Syracuse and Georgia Tech were tied at 57. Out of the media timeout, Copeland had a one-on-one following his rebound where he drew a foul. Copeland missed, giving possession back to the Yellow Jackets.

GT got the ball back following a jump ball, and Baye Ndongo scored underneath while drawing Copeland’s fourth foul. With two minutes to go, Syracuse trailed 59-58 after Kyle Cuffe Jr. went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. J.J. Starling missed a tough midrange 2 as GT still led by one with 90 seconds left.

With 31.5 seconds left, Brown fouled out after Miles Kelly drove down the left side of the lane and hit the floater, absorbing the contact. Making the free throw, Syracuse trailed 62-58. Judah Mintz quickly went into the lane and drew a foul, converting a pair of free throws. The Orange almost forced a steal, but Copeland was called for his fifth foul, sending Kyle Sturdivant to the line for a one-and-one.

Missing the second free throw, Ndongo made a crucial offensive rebound, which led to Kelly making a pair as the Orange trailed by five with 18 seconds left. The rebound gave Georgia Tech the win as missed field goals by Mintz and Starling would be the final Orange shots.

More 3-point struggles

With 11:24 remaining in the second half, Syracuse trailed by its then-largest deficit of the game, 10, and had shot just 3-of-19 from the 3-point line. Starling had a couple of first-half 3s while Bell notched the other, but aside from that, the Orange struggled from the 3-point line — the final field goal attempt in the first half was a Starling airball 3.

On back-to-back possessions early in the first half, Justin Taylor was left wide-open from the 3-point line. The first time, the shot clock was winding down and Taylor pulled up from the right wing, the Orange bench prematurely holding three fingers once he shot. On the next 3, he missed it on the front end of the rim from the right corner. He also airballed one from the right wing in the first half.

Syracuse eventually cut the lead to four, trailing just 50-46. Momentum had been trending toward its side and a bucket would have silenced the Georgia Tech crowd. Bell, on a catch-and-shoot, pulled up from the right wing. But he airballed, and the Yellow Jackets responded and extended the lead to six.

Taking advantage of GT’s turnovers

Syracuse trailed 32-23 with three minutes remaining in the first half, following a Kelly fast-break 3-pointer. But the Orange started to get back in the game, taking advantage of a very sloppy Georgia Tech team, at least in the final few minutes of the first half.

On a brief 7-0 run for the Orange to trim that deficit to two points, Georgia Tech had four straight possessions that ended in turnovers. Kowacie Reeves Jr. had a bad pass, resulting in Starling stealing the ball. Starling, who finished with 18 went coast-to-coast and drew the foul on his made layup for the 3-point play. Then, Ndongo lost possession of the ball and Mintz got to the ball first and was undercut by Naithan George.

Mintz had a quick four points. Ndongo tried to reset the offense but threw it to Mintz with no Georgia Tech player in sight. Mintz scored the fast-break layup, similar to his next basket that put Syracuse down 32-30. In the first half alone, the Yellow Jackets had 10 turnovers, and Brown had three steals in the first half.

As GT led 52-50, Ndongo had possession around the free-throw line. Just like had done all game, Brown poked the ball loose and kickstarted the fast-break. Cuffe Jr. received the ball on the right wing and on his drive, the Yellow Jackets goal-tended as Syracuse tied the game at 52.

Kyle Cuffe Jr. returns

At the beginning of the season, Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry preached his team’s depth. But now in the middle of February, the team has lost several players to injury and Autry has been forced to play a seven-man lineup in games against Louisville, Clemson and North Carolina. However, Autry had elected not to play a healthy Cuffe Jr. during those three games, and he said it was a coach’s decision, unrelated to any physical issue.

In his first appearance since the defeat to Wake Forest on Feb. 3, Cuffe Jr. played six minutes, finishing with three points. Early in the first half, Chris Bell shot a 3-pointer from the left wing. He missed, but timing his jump perfectly, Cuffe Jr. got up and dunked the ball for the putback in the same motion. Cuffe Jr. also tied the game up for the Orange at 52, washing away a previous 10-point lead.

Down the stretch, Cuffe Jr. missed a left-wing 3-pointer, giving the ball back to Georgia Tech as Syracuse trailed 59-57 with less than three minutes remaining. But on SU’s next possession, Cuffe Jr. got out on the fast-break and drew Sturdivant’s fourth foul on the dunk attempt.

Published on February 17, 2024 at 8:00 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini