Syracuse (11-4, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) eked out a 46-45 win over Georgia Tech (9-5, 0-2) in Atlanta on Wednesday night, and here are three quick reactions to the Orange’s second-straight conference victory.

1. Mixed results

It’s easy to laud Rakeem Christmas for his performance on Wednesday night. He, again, scored in double figures and was the unquestioned catalyst of an otherwise listless Syracuse offense.

But he missed easy lay-ins on back-to-back possessions with the Orange trailing by one in the guts of the game, and was the receiver of Georgia Tech’s Charles Mitchell’s drubbing in the paint. Mitchell wreaked havoc on the offensive boards and largely kept the Yellow Jackets in the game, and it was often Christmas — in the middle of the SU 2-3 zone — who was a beat behind the portly forward as he rolled in two. Mitchell finished with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Statistically, Christmas was the star he’s been so far this season and was reliable on the offensive end as the game wound down. But an uninspiring defensive performance played a large part in making him have to swish two free throws in the final seconds to win the game.

2. Turning the page

Nothing about the Orange’s offensive performance, in the first or second half, was impressive on Wednesday night. Yet SU was careful with the ball in the opening frame, which allowed it to stiff arm poor shooting and head into the break with a one-point lead.

Then Syracuse was careless with the ball at the start of the second, and let the Yellow Jackets stay in the game despite woeful shooting. Freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph was replaced by sophomore Ron Patterson for most of the finish and Orange turnovers littered that stretch.

SU escaped with another narrow road win, and it certainly doesn’t have its ball security to thank for that.

3. Another mercurial forward

Syracuse has gotten used to the ups and downs of freshman forward Chris McCullough, and his downward slide continued against Georgia Tech. But the game also highlighted a less-spoken-of trend — the sharp rises and declines of sophomore forward Tyler Roberson.

Roberson pulled down 17 boards in SU’s win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, and replaced McCullough early to help the Orange against an active Yellow Jackets front court. He was able to do so in spurts, but he picked up two early fouls and sat until the closing minutes.

When he did re-enter the game, Roberson airballed a baseline jump shot, traveled on an up-and-under move and hung on the rim while Patterson tipped in a rebound on the fast break. Roberson was called for goaltending and the Orange was left empty-handed.

ESPNU color commentator Len Elmore called Roberson a “godsend” for Syracuse during the second half. The forward responded by proving he has a long way to before being anything close to that.

Published on January 7, 2015 at 9:07 pm