Georgia Tech ventured about 800 miles for a painfully familiar result.
In a game not decided until the final seconds, the Yellow Jackets could not wrest victory from Syracuse, losing 60-57 Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.
Trying to build on their Wednesday win over N.C. State, the Jackets led as late as the 2:56 mark, but two turnovers inside the final 90 seconds helped Syracuse obtain the game. Tech (12-9 overall, 2-6 ACC) has lost all of its league games by eight points or fewer. All but one have been to teams in the RPI top 50.
“It’s grit,” forward Nick Jacobs said. “Guys have got to find a way to dig in.”
Down 58-56, Tech had a chance to tie the score with 5.7 seconds left when guard Tadric Jackson was fouled going for a loose ball after a missed free throw by guard Marcus Georges-Hunt. Jackson made one of two, requiring the Jackets to foul. Malachi Richardson made both free throws with 2.8 seconds left for a three-point lead, and Adam Smith’s desperation 3-point try to tie at the buzzer was just off the mark.
Syracuse (15-8, 5-5) extended its zone in the second half, suffocating Tech’s perimeter game and limiting the Jackets to 8-for-27 shooting from the field after halftime.
Here are five observations from the game:
Lost focus leads to early Syracuse run
After one turnover in its first 18 possessions, Tech gave the ball away on five of its next eight possessions in a variety of ways. The turnovers turned into eight Syracuse points in a 10-3 run that gave the Orange a 29-22 lead. After coach Brian Gregory called timeout, the Jackets recovered, eventually took a 35-32 lead and went into halftime with the score tied at 35-35. Still, the mistakes, which included unforced errors including an open-court travel and a shot-clock violation, caused the Jackets to lose ground in a taut contest.
Not enough from the bigs
The Tech game plan was to find gaps in the interior of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, which was successful to the extent that 32 of the Jackets’ 56 field-goal attempts were taken by their frontcourt players. The Jackets were often patient and at least three times scored on alley-oop baskets on the backside of the zone.
However, the four big men combined to make only 14 of the 32 attempts, not terrible but not good enough Saturday, especially when Syracuse’s extended zone in the second half left more space in the interior. Jacobs, who scored a team-high 14 and reached double figures for the sixth game in a row, particularly rued a wide-open layup that rolled out, perhaps his easiest shot of the game.
“We got the ball under and below the zone like we wanted to,” Gregory said. “We just didn’t finish enough of them.”
Missed opportunities
Playing Syracuse to the wire in the Carrier Dome required a lot of effective play by the Jackets. Off the bench, center Ben Lammers tied his season high with 10 points and contributed seven rebounds. The Jackets ransacked the offensive glass for 14 rebounds. Guards Josh Heath and Smith helped limit sniper Trevor Cooney to 1-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
However, the Jackets were 10-for-16 from the free-throw line (62.5 percent, nine percentage points under their average), turned Syracuse’s 12 turnovers into only seven points and didn’t gain much in transition, which Gregory had hoped to do, given the might of Syracuse’s zone defense in the half-court. Georges-Hunt was 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Jackson missed the free throw that might have forced overtime.
“If you make one more three, it’s a different game,” Gregory said.
Late-game mistakes
In the raucous environment, Tech played with poise for much of the game, limiting turnovers and defending well. However, its two critical turnovers in the final 90 seconds helped render it moot.
With the score tied at 55-55, Jacobs had the ball in the post, but dribbled the ball off his foot, after which Syracuse free throws gave the Orange a 57-55 lead with 1:25 left. Two possessions later, Smith tried to find Georges-Hunt through a gap in the zone but did not make a good pass, resulting in a turnover that turned into a Syracuse free throw for a 3-point lead with 15.5 seconds left.
“This (stuff) hurts, big time,” Jacobs said. “It’s simple. We’ve got to finish at the end.”
Brutal schedule continues
The Jackets will have two days to prepare for a Tuesday night home matchup with Duke, which hasn’t played since last Monday.
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