A quick take on Syracuse’s 55-51 road loss to Georgia Tech on Wednesday evening:
WHAT HAPPENED: After Syracuse had pulled to within 51-48 with just over a minute left, Ben Lammers collected several offensive rebounds, and willed his third attempt into the basket to give Tech a five point lead. On SU’s ensuing possession, Tyus Battle missed a layup, and after Paschal Chukwu corralled the rebound, his outlet was intercepted resulting in a Josh Okogie dunk, and Georgia Tech snapped a four-game losing streak, while ending SU’s three-game winning streak.
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ANALYSIS: This was about as ugly a game as Syracuse could play, with the Orange shooting 30.6 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from downtown. SU’s starting back court of Frank Howard and Battle combined for 8-34 shooting from the field and eight turnovers. The numbers only get worse as you look through the box score, with the Orange combining for nine assists against 14 turnovers. It also badly hurts the Orange’s tournament chances, as Georgia Tech was the first team SU lost to that is outside of the KenPom Top 100. And the schedule does not get any easier for the Orange, with Duke, UNC, Clemson and Virginia still left on the schedule.
HERO: Lammers finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Okogie led all scorers with 20 points. Tyus Battle had 19 points (on 4-17 shooting), nine rebounds and four assists for the Orange.
ZERO: During one stretch in the second half, Tadric Jackson, all of 6’2″, had four straight possessions with layups where he slipped in behind Marek Dolezaj’s part of the zone for layups, the last of which put Tech up 44-37 with 6:25 left. Howard had a brutal offensive night with five turnovers, and was also whistled for a technical foul late in the game.
WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse returns home to face No. 2 Virginia on Saturday at 4 p.m. TV: ACC Network.
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