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Syracuse returns home Tuesday to face Georgia Tech, looking to end its skid in Atlantic Coast Conference play. SU lost its third straight ACC game Saturday, falling to Florida State 90-74. The return of top scorer J.J. Starling wasn’t enough, as the Orange allowed 54 second-half points. Starling scored 12 points, albeit on an inefficient 5-for-16 shooting.
SU did receive a surprising boost from Chris Bell. Coming off the bench for the first time in his career, the junior broke out of his slump with an 18-point performance on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. He previously missed 13 straight 3s dating back to Syracuse’s Dec. 3 loss to Tennessee. The Orange are going to need everything they can get from Bell and Starling as they head into the thick of ACC play.
Here’s everything to know about Georgia Tech (8-7, 2-2 ACC) before it takes on Syracuse (6-8, 0-3 ACC):
All-time series
The series is tied 9-9.
Last time they played …
Following its biggest win of the season — an 86-79 upset over then-No. 7 North Carolina — Syracuse fell to Georgia Tech 65-60 on Feb. 17, 2024. SU trailed by eight points early in the second half, but a Bell triple with 5:50 remaining gave it a 55-54 lead.
Bell’s shot was Syracuse’s final field goal, and it couldn’t hold on down the stretch. The Orange registered one of their worst 3-point shooting performances of the season, going 4-of-25 (16%) from deep. Starling led the way with 18 points while Judah Mintz added 14. No other SU player was in double figures.
KenPom Odds
Syracuse has a 53% chance to win, with a projected score of 79-78.
The Yellow Jackets report
Georgia Tech has been far from an elite team in the ACC for the past 15 years. The Yellow Jackets’ lone NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 came when they won the ACC Tournament in 2021. GT moved on from head coach Josh Pastner in 2023 and hired Boston Celtics assistant Damon Stoudamire. During Stoudamire’s first season, GT was underwhelming, going 14-18 (7-13 in ACC play).
Stoudamire has had mixed success in Year 2. His team didn’t earn a marquee win in nonconference play and lost its first two ACC games, though they were against then-No. 5 Duke and then-No. 20 North Carolina. GT has since notched back-to-back wins, defeating Notre Dame and Boston College, both of which came by double digits.
The Yellow Jackets are a balanced team, with eight players averaging at least nine points per game, led by Lance Terry with 15.6. Baye Ndongo — a 2024 All-ACC Freshman Team member — is GT’s second-leading scorer with 12.7 points per game while Oklahoma transfer Javian McCollum ranks third (12.5).
How Syracuse beats Georgia Tech
Bell needs to stay hot. During SU’s 2-5 stretch without Starling, Bell was nonexistent — averaging six points on 25.8% shooting — and the Orange struggled. The junior’s performance against FSU could be a catalyst for a consistent run and Syracuse needs it desperately since it’s shot just 29.6% from 3 this season.
Getting Starling back on track is important as well. He had an up-and-down outing against FSU, but SU needs him to be at his best if it wants to win games. Finally, Syracuse simply needs to be better on defense. It couldn’t get stops in the second half against Florida State, allowing the Seminoles to shoot 53.6% from the field. That can’t happen against Georgia Tech.
Stat to know: 68.6%
Georgia Tech is the worst free-throw shooting team in the ACC, hitting 68.6% of its attempts. Syracuse isn’t much better from the charity stripe at 69.9%. In what should be a close game, free throws could be a deciding factor, especially down the stretch. GT gets to the line 20.8 times per game, while SU posts a slightly better mark at 22.07.
In only five games this season, Georgia Tech has shot at least 75% from the free-throw line. Across four ACC games, the Yellow Jackets are 58-of-86 on free throws, including a dreadful 15-of-27 (55.6%) performance against Boston College on Saturday.
Player to watch: Lance Terry, guard, No. 0
In his sixth year of college basketball, Terry is one of the most experienced players in the ACC. The point guard began his career at Gardner-Webb, where he played just 24 games in his first two seasons. As a junior, he started 31 contests and averaged 14.3 points per game before transferring to Georgia Tech.
Terry was a double-digit scorer (10.1 points) for the Yellow Jackets in 2022-23 and returned for a fifth season. He never saw the floor last season due to injury, leading to another year of eligibility. Terry’s taken advantage of it this season, leading GT in scoring with 15.6 points per game. He also has a team-leading 37 3-pointers, hitting at a 42% rate.
The post Opponent Preview: Everything to know about Georgia Tech appeared first on The Daily Orange.