Orange falter late in 65-60 loss to Georgia Tech

Syracuse’s offensive concerns return.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Just days after securing their best win of the season, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (16-10, 7-8) faltered down the end of the second half and struggled to point up enough consistent offense in a 65-60 road loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-15, 4-11) on Sunday evening.

After the Orange shot nearly 63% from the field versus #7 North Carolina, Syracuse shot just 37% from the field and finished nearly the last six minutes of the second half without any field goals. Syracuse led by as much seven points (9-2) and trailed by as much as nine points (48-38), but the Orange’s cold spurts on offense came back to haunt Adrian Autry and company in Atlanta.

J.J. Starling finished with a team-high 18 points on 7/14 shooting while Judah Mintz finished with 14 points (5/15 shooting). The backcourt duo were the only Syracuse players to finish in double-figures. Maliq Brown finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Syracuse shot just 4/25 from the field and were outrebounded 49-28 by the Yellow Jackets.

Kyle Sturdivant finished with 17 points for Georgia Tech, while Baye Ndongo (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Miles Kelly (16 points and 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles.

The Orange’s backcourt shouldered the load on offense early. Mintz began the game with a fading two-pointer at the end of the shot clock on the Orange’s first possession, while Starling knocked down two consecutive three-pointers and went on a personal 7-0 run to put Syracuse up 9-2 early in the first half.

Syracuse’s defense held Georgia Tech to a 1/7 start from the field, but Kelly knocked down a three to give the Yellow Jackets their first basket of the game right before the first media timeout.

After leading by as many as six points (11-5), Georgia Tech’s offense started to find its groove following a cold start. The Yellow Jackets made three straight field goals which was capped off by another three from Kelly to put Syracuse in a one-point deficit (17-16), forcing Adrian Autry to call timeout with 10 and a half minutes to go. Georgia Tech started off 6/15 from the field but was 3/5 from three at this point in the game.

Following the timeout, a craft layup by Copeland was followed by a putback dunk from Kyle Cuffe Jr. off the bench to return Syracuse’s lead to three points (20-17).

From here, Syracuse’s offense proceeded to really cool off toward the end of the half while Georgia Tech finally began to find its groove. After Cuffe’s dunk, Georgia Tech outscored the Orange 12-3 as Syracuse went over four minutes without any points. Autry was forced to call another timeout with three and a half minutes left in the first half.

Georgia Tech went up as much as nine points (32-23) in the first half, but an and-one layup by Starling followed by a fastbreak layup from Mintz cut Syracuse’s deficit down to four points. The Orange ended the half on a 7-2 run thanks to some fastbreak opportunities late in the period.

Syracuse trailed 34-30 at halftime despite only shooting 36% from the field (GT shot 43%). The Orange outscored the Yellow Jackets 13-6 in points off turnovers, but only shot 3/17 from three in the first half. Starling scored 10 points (most on either team) and Mintz had 8 points, while the trio of Kelly (9 points), Ndongo (8 points) and Gapare (8 points) all had a solid half for GT.

Syracuse’s offensive woes in the halfcourt continued in the second half. After two free throws from Mintz and a layup by Starling to tie the game at 34-34, Syracuse missed five straight shots and went scoreless for over three minutes. Georgia Tech went on a 9-2 scoring run and the Orange trailed 43-36.

Georgia Tech went up by as much as 10 points (48-38) as Syracuse had a stretch where it made just one field goal on 10 attempts and went three minutes without any points during a 12-2 scoring run by the Yellow Jackets.

A 6-0 scoring run brought the Orange back to just a four-point deficit with 10 minutes to go, with Starling notably keeping Syracuse’s offense afloat. Syracuse then proceeded to make four straight baskets, capped off by a three from Chris Bell to put Syracuse back up 55-54.

Unfortunately, Georgia Tech stole the lead late as Syracuse went ice cold down the end — the Orange went without a field goal for the game’s last five minutes.

As the saying goes: on to the next one. The Orange will look to redeem themselves on Tuesday night versus NC State on the road. Tip-off is 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2.