SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Less than 48 hours after beating Notre
Dame handily, the Syracuse Orange men squeezed by the Georgia Tech Yellow
Jackets 60-57 Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.
The Orange
(15-8, 5-5 ACC) notched its fifth victory in the last six games despite
some sloppy play that may have been the result of playing three times in one
week.
The Yellow
Jackets (12-9, 2-6 ACC) have now lost four of their last five contests, though
Orange coach Jim Boeheim said their record wasn’t indicative of their
talent and effort.
“I think Georgia
Tech is one of the better teams in the league,” Boeheim said. “I think our
schedule was bad and theirs was probably as bad or worse in terms of trying to
get off to a good start.”
Unlikely Standouts
With normal
standouts Trevor Cooney and Malachi Richardson struggling in the first half,
the Orange needed contributions from the rest of the roster. DaJuan Coleman and
Frank Howard stepped up big time, both coming up with some of their best play
of the season.
Despite fouling
out later in the game, Coleman still managed to put up 11 points on four of
five shooting from the field while providing strong interior defense.
“I thought
DaJuan was tremendous tonight, but he just can’t get his hands on people and
get fouls,” Boeheim said. “He had three fouls where there was just very little
pressure on guys.”
Coach Boeheim
had even higher praise for his freshman guard.
“Frank Howard
made some of the best passes we’ve seen in years here,” Boeheim said. “When he
stops shooting 10-foot floaters he’ll stay in the game.”
While he only
managed a single point, Howard had a team-high six assists, several of which
brought the Orange faithful to their feet. It was a much-needed breakout for
the young man from Suitland, Md.
“Coach, the last
two or three weeks, has really been on me, just trying to get that extra effort
out of me and I think it’s been paying off,” Howard said. “I’ve watched a lot
more film to know where I can pick my spots.”
Sloppy Second-Half
After a Tyler
Lydon three-pointer tied the game going into the half, both teams came out
rather sluggish. A combination of poor shooting and stout defense from both
sides led to some underwhelming basketball.
Boeheim acknowledged that some of the players, particularly Cooney (seven points), were
likely suffering from tired legs.
“We played hard
for the whole game against Notre Dame and then you’re coming back Saturday,
noon… that’s a tough turnaround,” Boeheim said.
Richardson Clutch at the End
At the end of a
tight game it was the freshman Richardson who proved to be the difference,
coming up with a key steal in the final seconds and nailing three pivotal free
throws.
“I just wanted
to have a nose for the ball, anywhere it was, I wanted to go get it,”
Richardson said. “End of the game, it’s very important for us to get the ball
in situations like that. That eliminates them from getting second-chance
opportunities or scoring.”
Richardson
finished the day with 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Game Notes
Michael Gbinije
had to exit the game momentarily after catching a finger to the eye from a
Georgia Tech player. He returned quickly, however, almost immediately connecting on a left corner three and finished as the game’s
leading scorer with 16 points. Forward Nick Jacobs led Georgia Tech with 14.
The Orange
struggled from both the three-point (6-18) and free throw (12-21) lines, though
they continued to excel at defending the three, limiting the Yellow Jackets to
28 percent shooting from deep.
Up Next
The Orange will
host the Virginia Tech Hokies (12-9, 4-4 ACC) on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 8:00 p.m. The game will be available on the ACC Network.
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