Syracuse men’s basketball vs. Georgia Tech: TNIAAM predictions & poll

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team is basically off the bubble at this point, picking up too many losses and not enough quality wins to be in the NCAA Tournament conversation. Still, we want to win games, so would be nice to break the recent cold streak vs. the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

When we last saw Georgia Tech, the Orange were running them off their own floor in a dominant 97-63 win for Syracuse. Since then, Tech’s looked a lot better — especially lately when they’ve won five of seven, including a big upset over Louisville. So we’re not necessarily in for the sort of cakewalk we had back in December.

Before the game tips off on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET — on ACC Network Extra — we asked the TNIAAM staff to predict the outcome.

Dave Stone

Syracuse 84, Georgia Tech 81

I’m honestly not very confident that the Orange will win this game, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt after one of their worst offensive performances of the year against Louisville. It’s time for SU to break out of this three-point shooting funk they’ve been in for the past handful of games. I think Joe Girard, Buddy Boeheim, and Elijah Hughes combine for 10+ three-pointers and it’s just enough to overcome some abysmal defense and pull out win.

Austin Lamb

Syracuse 78, Georgia Tech 62

Syracuse should finally get back in the win column with this game after losing three in a row. The Yellow Jackets are No. 33 on KenPom in defensive efficiency and were without second-leading scorer Jose Alvarado when these teams last played, but the fact that the Orange won by 34 points on the road is encouraging for this rematch. Tech, No. 163 in offensive efficiency, also isn’t a good 3-point shooting team and leads the ACC in turnovers per game. So, if SU can take advantage in transition and hit its 3s at a decent rate again, this one shouldn’t be close. I think the Orange pull away after the first 10 minutes, and fans get a reminder what winning feels like and playing well looks like, despite the motivator of an at-large bid seemingly out of the picture.

Kevin Wall

Syracuse 71, Georgia Tech 68

Jose Alvarado’s going to be a problem on both ends of the court for the Orange. Look for the ball to be in Elijah Hughes’ hands early and often and I think he’ll deliver a strong all-around game. With Hughes handling the ball, Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard will find some space to make enough shots for the Orange to get the win.

John Cassillo

Syracuse 77, Georgia Tech 73

Syracuse hasn’t looked good on either end of late, while Tech’s dragged themselves back to respectability with quality efforts vs. a bunch of mid-tier ACC squads (and Louisville). Also, while the Orange won big last time, Jose Alvarado wasn’t playing in December. Combine that with potentially frustrating bigs like James Banks III and Moses Wright, who seem poised to get SU into foul trouble, and there’s a recipe for an Orange loss. However, I think the recent three-point struggles disappear enough to pull out a late win for Syracuse at home, even if defensive issues continue. Key, as is typical, will be foul trouble.

Now it’s your turn...