Syracuse basketball followed up a huge home win over No. 7 North Carolina last Tuesday night with a disappointing and damaging setback at Georgia Tech on Saturday evening, as the Orange got hammered on the boards and shot the ball poorly.
This loss to the Yellow Jackets, currently, is a quadrant-three defeat and a bad one at that for the 'Cuse. As I noted in a column after the team's win over the Tar Heels, the Orange doesn't have a lot of chances left in the 2023-24 regular season for marquee victories, and falling to a bad Georgia Tech squad puts SU even further from the proverbial bubble for this spring's NCAA Tournament.
While the Yellow Jackets have a sub-par overall record this term, prior to Saturday night's encounter, they had defeated Duke, North Carolina and Clemson in Atlantic Coast Conference competition. As such, the Orange's loss here is just further indication that winning on the road in ACC play is a big challenge, regardless of the opponent.
For the 'Cuse, it's really this simple. When Syracuse basketball makes shots and rebounds well, it usually wins. Case in point, against UNC, the Orange shot better than 60 percent from the field and nearly 50 percent from deep, while holding its own on the glass.
None of those things occurred in Atlanta on Saturday, and the result was a rough 65-60 loss for the 'Cuse (16-10, 7-8 in the ACC) at the hands of Georgia Tech (11-15, 4-11 in the ACC).
Some key observations as the Yellow Jackets stung Syracuse basketball.
•Sophomore center Peter Carey was unavailable for the third straight game, as he has been in concussion protocol. We're sending love to Peter.
•In recent games, redshirt sophomore guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. hadn't played at all, but he did earn 11 minutes of run versus Georgia Tech. He had five points, one rebound and one assist.
•Scoring was hard to come by for the Orange, with only two players getting into double-figures. Sophomore guard J.J. Starling tallied a game-high 18 points, while sophomore point guard Judah Mintz finished with 14 points.
•Sophomore wings/forwards Quadir Copeland, Justin Taylor and Chris Bell struggled with their shooting. Copeland had nine points, three assists and two steals. Bell only had six points, but he did add five rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals.
•Both sophomore big man Maliq Brown and Copeland fouled out. Brown produced six points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block and an impressive five steals.
•I'm stating the obvious, but when the 'Cuse struggles to shoot, it's a real problem. Syracuse basketball connected on just 37 percent from the field, a woeful 16 percent from 3-point land and 71 percent from the free-throw line. To be fair, Georgia Tech didn't shoot much better, but it did make two more field-goal attempts and three more shots from long range, which loomed large in this Yellow Jackets win.
•The Orange forced the Yellow Jackets into 17 turnovers, and Syracuse basketball generated 12 steals. That helped propel the 'Cuse to leads of 16-8 in points off turnovers and 15-9 in fast-break points.
•What doomed Syracuse basketball was that Georgia Tech prevailed on the boards, 49-28, and that included a 12-4 edge in offensive rebounds. As one example, toward the game's conclusion, with the score tight, the Yellow Jackets missed a free throw but got the offensive board, a brutal outcome for Syracuse basketball.
•In their all-time series together, the Orange and Georgia Tech are now tied at 9-9.
•Up next, the 'Cuse continues its two-contest road tour in ACC affairs. Syracuse basketball will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to face N.C. State on Tuesday, Feb. 20, beginning at 7 pm from the PNC Arena and with television coverage on ESPN2. In late January, the Orange beat the Wolfpack by 12 points at the JMA Wireless Dome.