Men’s Basketball dismantled, falls to Syracuse 80-63

Georgia Tech falls to 1-8 in ACC play after another home loss

Matthew Kistner | Jan 21, 2023

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Georgia Tech came into Saturday's contest limping, having lost four straight. The hope was to turn things around against a mediocre Syracuse team and former player Moses Wright believed in this hope as he showed up to cheer on the Jackets. However, it was not to be as the Syracuse fans outnumbered the Tech fans in McCamish on Saturday and it was the Orange fans who cheered in the end as Tech dropped another game: 80-63.

The contest saw an opening burst from the Yellow Jackets as they pulled up 10-3 behind Miles Kelly and Deebo Coleman hit two three-pointers. Deivon Smith then joined the action as he made an electrifying block and followed it up later with a huge walk-on-air dunk to put Tech up 12-5. Deebo Coleman then hit his second three of the game which was reassuring as it had been a while since Deebo had a hot hand. He said before the game he would deliver at least five three-pointers for the team, and he was on pace to do so and then some.

Jalon Moore — Georgia Tech had another poor shooting performance against Syracuse / Georgia Tech Athletics

Behind Syracuse’s bad shooting and Tech playing outstanding defensively, the Yellow Jackets found themselves up 21-10 early. This was nothing new for this season though as Tech tended to have an early surge which was usually followed up by a large scoring drought. Today proved to be no different for the Jackets as Syracuse went on a ludicrous 23-4 run to pull ahead 33-25. During the run, Tech had a lot of mental mistakes that led to Syracuse being in the bonus with over nine minutes left in the half, proving to be a large issue as it aided Syracuse in building their lead.

Coleman finally broke the run with his third three-pointer of the game to pull within five points, but Syracuse steadily kept scoring to put the game at 40-33 in favor of the Orange at halftime. Pastner needed to regroup his guys quickly if there was to be any chance in this game, but the game only got worse as Tech came out of the tunnel and picked up right where they left off with bad fouls and falling behind by 11.

Coleman, however, was proving to be a light in the dark as he knocked down his fourth three-pointer, just one away from what he promised pregame, to take the game to 44-36. Kelly tried his hand at a three-pointer and knocked down a deep three to pull the game closer, but Syracuse was having no problems offensively and Tech was dependent upon shots beyond the arch which were not sustainable. Coleman hit his promised mark with his fifth three-pointer, cutting the lead to eight at 52-44.

Georgia Tech vs Syracuse — It was a tough watch for Buzz as Georgia Tech lost by double-digits again / Matthew Kistner

There was still hope for the Jackets if they could get some defensive stops and knock down some shots. This did come when Kyle Sturdivant came off the bench and knocked down a huge three to pull Tech within seven. A defensive stop then led to Miles Kelly knocking down a jumper, putting the score at 59-54 in favor of the Orange, but this was the last push Tech would make.

Syracuse proved they could get to the basket easier and the Jackets were just not enough to stop the Syracuse attack as they fell behind quickly. Georgia Tech only made one field goal in the last six and a half minutes to close out the game, falling for the fifth straight time: 80-63.

Coleman led the team with 17 points and a fulfilled promise of 5 three-pointers. Smith played a great all-around game with 7 assists, 4 defensive rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 9 points. Kelly had 13 points and Moore had 11. The team just could not find a good rhythm after the initial 21-10 burst and it resulted in a big loss.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Tuesday at 9 PM as they travel to take on a very experienced Clemson team, that is currently atop the ACC.

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