Story by Jake Lapin
Photo by Bridget Chavez
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- On a day where the seniors played their final game at the Carrier Dome and the ACC standings were very much up in the air, Syracuse took care of business by defeating Georgia Tech, 90-61, Saturday.
With the win, Syracuse crept (18-13, 10-8 ACC) up a spot to finish as the eighth seed as the ACC regular season came to a close and got a bye in the opening round at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn next week. It also split the season series after a 6-point loss to the Yellow Jackets (17-14, 8-10) in Atlanta 13 days earlier.
"We did a good job with getting the right positions, getting the ball in the right places and finishing," head coach Jim Boeheim said. "We shot well from start to finish.”
Fast Start, Dominating Finish
Syracuse jumped on Tech quickly, piling up leads of as much as 16 points at 38-22 with 1:30 to go in the first half. Freshman Tyus Battle hit three early 3-pointers to ignite the offense. He had 22 points in the game.
But the Yellow Jackets scored the last four points of the half to close the deficit to twelve, then started the second half on a 9-0 run to get within three before Andrew White III hit a shot from beyond the arc.
From there the Orange clamped down on Tech's offense, White caught fire and Syracuse ran away with it.
“You’ve got to give Syracuse a lot of credit – obviously they were fantastic," Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner said. "Andrew White III was just amazing. They were dialed in."
White Hot
The cheesy pun does not do White's performance any justice. In his regular season finale, the recently slumping guard awoke with a vengeance, finishing with 40 points on 12-of-16 shooting.
White had it going from beyond the arc, where he shot 8-of-9 on the game and 7-of-7 in the second half.
In his previous three games, White had 31 points combined in a total of 120 minutes. In this one he averaged over a point per minute with his forty-piece in just 39 minutes of playing time.
"Nobody cares about my 40 points if we don't win the game," White said. He also pointed out that after struggling the last couple of games, the law of averages was due to help him out.
White had shot just 22-percent from deep in Syracuse's previous four games before his absurd 89-percent mark against Georgia Tech.
"He just didn't miss anything," Boeheim said after the game. "One of the best shooting performances I've seen."
"He's a walking bucket," his fellow fifth-year transfer John Gillon added. "I've been saying it all year."
Seniors Saluted
The Orange honored each of its seniors as it traditionally does on the final home game of the regular season. DaJuan Coleman, Doyin Akintobi-Adeyeye and Tyler Roberson were honored in a pregame ceremony, as well as White and Gillon. Each of them was presented a framed jersey at center court with family and friends close by.
In an unexpected twist, each of the seniors saw the floor courtesy of the blowout.
Coleman played for the first time since Jan. 24 vs. Wake Forest. He did not record a stat in his three minutes of play, but received a booming ovation from the crowd, particularly the student section upon checking in.
"He's a great kid," Boeheim said. "I think he could have been a really good player without those knees. He just can't move out there. He somehow played through this just on sheer will and determination."
"When I got in there, and heard everyone chanting my name, just making a lot of noise, I was a little emotional," Coleman said.
"I thought he gave us everything he could," Boeheim added. "That's all you can ask for from a player as a coach."
Akintobi-Adeyeye scored in his sole minute of play on a put-back layup. He finished the season with 10 points scored in 13 games played.
Gillon had a sneaky double-double, with 10 points and 10 assists with just three turnovers.
Roberson finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds and a steal in his final game at the Dome.
"He played as hard as he could for four years," Boeheim said.
Double Bubble
This game carried importance for both Syracuse and Georgia Tech, jockeying for position in the ACC standings as well as trying to impress the NCAA Tournament committee before Selection Sunday.
Entering the day, both teams appeared on Joe Lunardi's "On the Bubble" in Bracketology. After the win, the Orange can be found under the "Last Four Byes" category, avoiding the play-in game as a 10-seed. Georgia Tech is among the "First Four Out."
With the ACC standings now set in stone, Georgia Tech will have to play in the first round, missing out on the top-nine in the conference, but according to Boeheim, it could have been worse.
"I think Georgia Tech has done a fantastic job on defense," Boeheim said. "They won eight games in this league, they beat a lot of really good teams. They played a lot of people really tough too. They deserve a lot of credit." Boeheim also added that Pastner should be ACC coach of the year.
As for Syracuse, it appears that Orange Nation can potentially take a sigh of relief, although nothing is certain. Each win in Brooklyn at the ACC Tournament would only bolster an already seemingly-sufficient resume.
When asked if one more win would get the Orange into March Madness, White responded "I don't know exactly where we stand. We're going in to Brooklyn and trying to win a tournament."
Notes
Saturday's attendance was 30,448, the largest the NCAA has seen this season, topping the Syracuse-Duke game which held the previous record. Syracuse finished with a 21,142 average of fans per game. 12 of the 15 teams in the ACC do not have arenas that can even accommodate 20,000 people.
"It's unbelievable the support we've had," Boeheim said. "The fans are always good but I think they were even better this year."
Due to the blowout, sophomore Tyler Lydon had an easy night tallying "just" 37 minutes. It broke a streak of 11-straight games without checking out, including two games that went to overtime. The last time Lydon did not play at least 40 minutes was at North Carolina on Jan. 16, when he played a mere 39 minutes.
Syracuse has shot 38.5-percent from deep this season. Its 62.5-percent against Georgia Tech was a season-high. The 15 makes tied a season high as well.
"You shoot the ball like that from the three, it's hard to beat that," Boeheim said.
Looking Ahead
The ACC Tournament bracket is officially set. Syracuse will face Miami in the 8/9 matchup at the Barclays Center at noon ET on Wednesday. The game will be aired on ESPN, and the winner gets to face first-seeded North Carolina in the quarterfinals the following day.
Georgia Tech will play Pittsburgh in the 11/14 matchup on Tuesday in the opening round. That game can be found on ESPNU at 7pm ET.
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