The Yellow Jackets (10-5, 1-1 ACC) improved to 10-1 at home after their 65-53 come-from-behind win over Boston College on Saturday. It is their best start at McCamish Pavilion since starting 14-2 at home in 2009-10.
“We couldn’t have won games like this last year,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “We went to Duke and lost by six. We come back and it was kind of a grimy game, but we’ve been playing close games, so we’re seasoned in these games. That’s why you didn’t see any panic is our guys coming down the stretch.”
Georgia Tech is led by Lamar Washington, who had 17 points and a career-best 12 rebounds on Saturday for his sixth career double-double. Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored 16 and has been in double figures for seven straight games.
Syracuse (9-5, 0-1) has not won a game away from home, going 0-3, with all three losses coming in the Players Era men’s championship in Las Vegas. The Orange lost to Houston, Kansas and Iowa State in that showcase event.
Syracuse lost its ACC opener 64-61 to Clemson on Wednesday and has been off ever since. The Orange trailed by nine with 3:26 remaining and got as close as two points with 43 seconds left.
Syracuse was hurt by 15 turnovers, which led to 13 Clemson points.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball better,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said. “That’s what impacted the game.”
The Syracuse defense has been outstanding. They limited Clemson to a season-low 64 points and rank first in the ACC with 64.8 points allowed.
“The defensive part we’ve figured out,” Autry said. “Offensively we have to do a better job. The ball (against Clemson) still didn’t move like we want it to.”
The Orange got a boost by the return of Donnie Freeman. He returned from a foot injury that had kept him sidelined since Nov. 18, and against Clemson he produced 18 points in 27 minutes.
