Syracuse Basketball: Orange suffers brutal home defeat to GT

The Syracuse basketball squad got thoroughly and surprisingly manhandled on its own turf, as Georgia Tech bested the Orange, 73-59.

The SU hoops outfit settled for way too many attempts from downtown, while Georgia Tech dominated in the paint, and the Yellow Jackets picked up a convincing 73-59 triumph on Saturday night at the Carrier Dome.

I have to readily admit that I didn’t see this result coming. I figured that Syracuse and Georgia Tech would engage in a defensive-minded slugfest. Given the Orange’s ongoing shooting woes, and the fact that the Yellow Jackets nearly beat a top-10 Virginia Tech team a few days ago, it wouldn’t have surprised me all that much if GT conquered the ‘Cuse.

But what occurred in this encounter blew me away. The Yellow Jackets held a slim one-point lead at halftime. It appeared that this contest would wind down to the wire.

Instead, Georgia Tech absolutely crushed Syracuse after intermission. The Yellow Jackets significantly out-hustled SU. The visitors played smarter, and they took the Loud House crowd out of this affair, save for a mini 8-0 run that cut GT’s massive 18-point advantage to 10.

However, the ‘Cuse (11-5, 2-1) wouldn’t get any closer, and it ultimately allowed a whopping 46 points in the final 20 minutes. That won’t do. This is a devastating defeat for the Orange’s potential post-season resume, as the Yellow Jackets (10-6, 2-1) have a current NCAA NET rating hovering around 100. So to fall to Georgia Tech on the Hill is really, really disappointing.

Saturday evening’s duel also represents one of numerous instances where an opponent arrived in Central New York and totally smoked Syracuse in the second half. Not an encouraging trend.

SU, which saw its winning streak snapped at four, took 21 more 3-pointers than the Yellow Jackets, yet the Orange only connected on seven, versus six for GT. That’s atrocious. Overall from the field, Georgia Tech shot nearly 60 percent, which is an incredible number. The Yellow Jackets focused their offense inside the arc, and the ‘Cuse did not.

Both crews committed an abundance of turnovers, and rebounding proved identical. Sophomore forward Oshae Brissett produced a Syracuse-high 15 points, and freshman guard Buddy Boeheim stroked three from long range.

By and large, no one on SU could score with consistency. For the entire event, the Orange shot a dreadful 32 percent, including an abysmal 21 percent from 3-point-land. In recent games, the ‘Cuse had fared pretty well from downtown, but Syracuse unfortunately fell in love with the three against GT, when its players should have aggressively driven to the basket.

This setback to the Yellow Jackets doesn’t completely ruin the 2018-19 campaign for Syracuse. It stings, though, and now SU has to regroup and secure some successes on the road, and versus ranked foes. Such opportunities begin on Monday night, when the Orange faces the ridiculously daunting task of traveling to No. 1 Duke.

It would amount to such a typical ‘Cuse thing to get pasted at home by Georgia Tech, and then follow that up by springing a monster upset of the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Not terribly likely to happen, but who knows with this Syracuse bunch.