Syracuse men’s basketball: predictions and poll for Georgia Tech

After two three disappointing losses in a row, the Syracuse Orange (16-13, 9-9) are back home against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-17, 4-14).

Syracuse won the first meeting by a score of 80-63 and boy were we full of hope after that one. Georgia Tech enters having won three of their last five games. Tip-off between the Orange and the Ramblin’ Wreck is scheduled for 7 pm EST and streaming on the ACC Network Extra.

Here are our predictions:

Kevin

Syracuse 79, Georgia Tech 68

Georgia Tech isn’t built to expose the Syracuse zone. We saw them get off to a quick start in the first meeting and then their shooting regressed to the mean. They are one of the worst shooting teams in the ACC and they don’t defend that well on the interior. In the first meeting, Jesse Edwards and Maliq Brown combined to shoot 14-18 from the field so look for the Orange to go inside early and often tonight.

Dom

Syracuse 82, Georgia Tech 67

I’ll send Kevin’s point here in the sense that the Yellow Jackets’ offensive ceiling doesn’t bode well to either outscore the Orange by 10-15 points or do enough damage to Syracuse’s zone defense. This is a game where Syracuse’s best players simply shine all together and provide enough of a scoring boost. And thank goodness, because the ‘Cuse defense is anything but great as seen in recent games.

Mike

Syracuse 78, Georgia Tech 60

The Orange handled themselves well down in Atlanta and that shouldn’t change in the rematch. Even against a lackluster zone, GT doesn’t have the weapons to make much happen. Syracuse on the other hand should be able to dip into its depth and expand its rotation past 6-7 guys for perhaps the final time this season. How about another 50%+ day from the field to get spirits high for Saturday’s festivities?

Szuba

Syracuse 82, Georgia Tech 68

Georgia Tech doesn’t pose much of a threat to Syracuse with an offense that ranks outside the top-200 in the sport. Even as bad as Syracuse was defensively last week, it’s hard to think the Yellow Jackets can hang without the shooting necessary to make things difficult on the 2-3 zone. The Syracuse offense should be able to get what it wants and if Benny Williams’s shooting is any indication, it’ll be harder to for teams to double with their four man on Jesse Edwards in the post. Syracuse wins this one going away.

Now it’s your turn...