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Syracuse had many opportunities to defeat Georgia Tech. Consistent misses from the 3-point line, where it shot 4-of-25, and collectively shooting just 36.7% from the field were two of the several statistical categories the Orange struggled versus the Yellow Jackets.

But the 17 turnovers it forced, including 12 steals, was the one area that gave Syracuse (16-10, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) a fighting chance in its 65-60 loss to Georgia Tech (11-15, 4-11 ACC), which snapped GT’s four-game losing streak against the Orange.

Led by Maliq Brown’s five steals, the Orange turned those Yellow Jacket turnovers into 16 points, over 25% of Syracuse’s point total Saturday evening. Aside from losing the rebounding battle 49-28, Syracuse did all it could defensively to put itself in a position to win a much-needed game, one that it should’ve won.

The Yellow Jackets entered Saturday’s contest with the worst turnover margin (-2.88) in the ACC. They had turned the ball over 304 times already, the fourth-most in the conference. Taking on Syracuse, which entered averaging 9.4 steals a game, was an area SU exploited throughout the evening.

Georgia Tech notched its first turnover within two minutes of the game. Naithan George attempted to pass the ball inside but Chris Bell picked it off, leading to a possession where J.J. Starling made one of the few 3s Saturday for Syracuse. After a jump ball a few minutes later, Brown poked George’s inbound pass loose, but Syracuse made nothing of the possession as Justin Taylor had the ball stolen from him a few minutes later.

Syracuse trailed 32-23 with three minutes remaining in the first half following a Miles Kelly fast-break 3-pointer. But the Orange started to get back in the game, taking advantage of a very sloppy Georgia Tech team in the final few minutes of the first half.

“We didn’t do a great job at times,” Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire said. “The thing about zones is you got to move them. When we didn’t execute against the zone, it was because we didn’t move them.”

The Yellow Jackets ultimately developed a nine-point lead toward the end of the first half. The Orange were struggling to make baskets and GT capitalized. But the Yellow Jackets then had five straight possessions that ended in turnovers in just 77 seconds.

Kowacie Reeves Jr.’s pass attempt near the free-throw line to get past the Orange’s 2-3 zone was picked loose by Starling, who was Syracuse’s most reliable scoring option on the night, finishing with a game-high 18 points. He went coast-to-coast on the fast-break and drew a foul on his layup attempt to kill the momentum that Georgia Tech had built.

Starling converted the 3-point play, and on the Yellow Jacket’s next possession, Baye Ndongo had the ball poked from behind and it trickled toward the half-court line. Judah Mintz sprinted to it and just beat George, who undercut and fouled Mintz.

Mintz missed the free throw, but 15 seconds later, Georgia Tech committed another turnover, this time with a Tafara Gapare poor pass. Mintz eventually had four consecutive points of his own to inch closer and closer at the Yellow Jacket lead.

In a very sloppy sequence of play, where Quadir Copeland hit the under-part of the backboard on a layup attempt, Ndongo tried to reset the offense with several players out of place. Possessing the ball near the right block, Ndongo tried to reset the offense, but his cross-court pass to almost the half-court line, found Mintz, with no GT player near him.

“In the first half, (Ndongo) was getting poked a little bit,” GT guard Kelly said. “He didn’t understand where it was coming from. As a freshman, it’s hard to really understand when they’re coming and when they’re not.”

Mintz scored the fast-break layup, forcing the Yellow Jackets to call a timeout. Out of the break, Mintz scored another quick layup after Brown stripped the ball and began the transition off the turnover. Brown’s aggression for poking the ball loose from behind has become a key part of his arsenal, and he entered Saturday’s game second in the league with 2.2 steals per game. In the first half alone, Georgia Tech had 10 turnovers, where Brown had three steals.

That same type of play is what tied the game for Syracuse at 52, washing away the once 10-point deficit Georgia Tech had built in the second half. Ndongo, who had six turnovers on the night, once again had possession around the free-throw line. Brown poked it loose and the ball found Kyle Cuffe Jr.

From the right wing, Cuffe Jr. took a couple of dribbles and went in for the layup. He missed the shot, but Georgia Tech was called for goaltending. SU’s next bucket, gave it a 55-54. Down the stretch, Syracuse forced three more turnovers in the final three minutes, but the failure to make jump shots essentially negated all the work Syracuse had done to force turnovers.

“I was just upset about the game, upset with myself,” Bell said of the 5-minute mark when he missed a 3 from the corner. “We were down two, and I felt it was a good moment, we were in the game. It was a good transition moment… and I just took a bad shot.”

Published on February 17, 2024 at 9:39 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini