Syracuse Basketball: Orange set to face a stellar Georgia Tech defense

Syracuse basketball will attempt to get out of its funk when the Orange makes a trip to Atlanta on Saturday afternoon to battle Georgia Tech.

An abundance of Orange fanatics is up in arms over Syracuse basketball’s 4-4 start to the 2019-20 campaign. I get it. Despite a young roster that has no seniors, and relatively mild expectations, an air of excitement did brew prior to the present stanza commencing, as it appeared that the ‘Cuse would excel on offense due to a multitude of 3-point threats.

However, against its foes from major conferences at this juncture, Syracuse hasn’t found an offensive rhythm, and the Orange, unfortunately, has gotten smoked by each of these opponents, with the most recent of which, Iowa, completely shutting down the ‘Cuse this past Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Now, mired in a three-contest winless streak, Syracuse (4-4, 0-1) will travel to Georgia Tech (4-2, 1-0) on Saturday afternoon for an Atlantic Coast Conference clash that is vital for the Orange’s confidence level.

The good news is that the Yellow Jackets aren’t a particularly elite crew on offense. The bad news is that Georgia Tech plays extremely well on defense. This meeting is fairly simple, in my humble opinion. The ‘Cuse has to connect on a respectable clip from the field, or it’s likely going to leave McCamish Pavilion with a defeat.

Let’s take a further dive into what has transpired for Yellow Jackets so far in 2019-20. Georgia Tech’s achievements are at home versus Bethune-Cookman, Elon, and Nebraska, as well as on the road in overtime against fellow ACC member N.C. State. The Yellow Jackets have succumbed at Georgia by four points, and to Arkansas on Georgia Tech’s own turf, in a duel that required an extra session.

Georgia Tech is averaging 71.0 points per encounter, while allowing an impressive 64.5 points. The Yellow Jackets collect 41.5 rebounds every 40 minutes, along with 13.8 assists, 8.0 blocks, and 6.8 steals. Similar to Syracuse, Georgia Tech is pedestrian on offense, shooting 45.2 percent from the field as a whole, 61.4 percent from the charity stripe, and a dreadful 27.8 percent from deep. The Yellow Jackets also commit a massive 17.2 turnovers a game, and the Orange must capitalize on Georgia Tech’s miscues and convert those mistakes into easy transition buckets.

In its 2-3 zone, the ‘Cuse absolutely has to hone in on sophomore guard Michael Devoe, who is putting up a whopping 23.8 points per bout while hitting on better than 55 percent from the field and long-range. Yikes.

All-time in their series together, Syracuse is 5-6 versus the Yellow Jackets, including a 73-59 drubbing at the hands of Georgia Tech on the Hill last January, according to orangehoops.org.

The ACC preseason media poll for 2019-20 slotted the ‘Cuse at No. 8 and the Yellow Jackets at No. 12, but Georgia Tech is performing more admirably to date. Because of violations by the Yellow Jackets’ hoops program announced by the NCAA on Sept. 26 of this year, Georgia Tech is banned from postseason competition in the current term.

That assuredly has the Yellow Jackets even hungrier to keep piling on the triumphs during the 2019-20 regular schedule, and Syracuse will find itself in a daunting bruiser come Dec. 7.