Orange Take Down Georgia Tech

Saturday, February 22

Syracuse, N.Y.

4 PM

Syracuse University

15-12,8-8ACC

Georgia Tech

13-14,7-9ACC

Georgia Tech

Syracuse

2/22/2020 6:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In front of the second-largest on-campus crowd this season (26,661), Syracuse (15-12, 8-8 ACC) shot a season-high 64 percent (16-for-25) from the field in the second half to defeat Georgia Tech (13-14, 7-9 ACC), 79-72.

The win gives the Orange a sweep in the season series against the Yellow Jackets, having previously defeated the Ramblin' Wreck 97-63 at McCamish Pavilion on December 8.

Elijah Hughes and Marek Dolezaj led the Orange in scoring with each contributing 20 points. Dolezaj reached his total by connecting on 4-of-6 from the field and 12-of-12 from the foul line.

'CUSE CLOSES OUT
Protecting a three-point lead with under seven minutes to play, the teams each tacked six points onto their scores in a two-minute window before Bourama Sidibe converted in the paint to put the Orange ahead 64-59 with 4:07 to play in the contest. Not phased by a quick three points from Tech free throw shooters, the Orange tallied four straight free throw makes of their own before Dolezaj muscled his way to the paint to extend the Orange advantage to 70-62 with 1:38 to play.

A Bubba Parham triple and a three-point play from Moses Wright moved the Ramblin' Wreck within five with 59 seconds to play, but the Orange were able to hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the win.

TECH TAKES CONTROL
In the first six minutes of play, Georgia Tech jumped out to a 12-7 lead with four of those points coming off turnovers. Leading the charge early for the Ramblin' Wreck was Wright, who converted on his first three attempts from the field to rack up a quick six points.

The Yellow Jackets continued to swarm after the first media timeout, kicking off an 8-0 scoring run with another field-goal from Wright at the 14:40 mark. Leading scorer Michael DeVoe chipped in four points during the stretch including a corner three that extended the Tech advantage to 11. A pair of free-throws from Dolezaj, with just over 10 to play, ended a five-minute scoring drought for the Orange.

RAMBLIN' ON
After the Orange constructed a 7-2 run of their own with a jumper from Buddy Boeheim and a triple from Joseph Girard III to close the deficit to seven, Tech tightened up on defense, limiting the Orange to just six points during the last seven minutes of the half. The visitors took a 38-27 lead to the locker room at the intermission.

The Yellow Jackets converted on 46.2 percent of their attempts from the field compared to the Orange's rate of 24.0 percent. Wright accounted for nearly half of Tech's first-half scoring by kicking in 15 points, six more than any other Yellow Jacket.

JOE KNOWS
With the Orange looking for someone to kickstart the offense to open the second half, Girard III answered the call, nailing a triple and knocking down a tough jumper for five quick points -- after only scoring three in the first half.

Elijah Hughes joined the party, cashing a jumper of his own to cut the deficit to four and force a timeout from Tech coach Josh Pastner at the 17:25 mark.

After a slam from James Banks III pushed the Yellow Jacket lead back to six, Girard III found his way to the rim and converted with contact to set up a three-point play and cut the Georgia Tech lead to 40-37 with 16:43 to go.

BUDDY IS BLAZING
After the Ramblin' Wreck put together a 5-0 run with a three from Jose Alvarado and a jumper from Wright, Boeheim began to find his rhythm, knocking down a jumper of his own at the 15:49 mark and hitting a layup with 13:08 to go before draining a deep triple to bring the Carrier Dome crowd to its feet and pull the Orange within two, 49-47.

SYRACUSE SCRAPES BACK
After the teams traded four straight points apiece, a crafty step back jumper from Hughes tied the score at 51-51. Following an Alvarado miss from deep, the Orange worked the ball up the court where Hughes was fouled, and converted one of his two free throws to put the Orange up 52-51. It was Syracuse's first lead since early in the opening frame.

Girard continued to dazzle the Syracuse faithful, racing through defenders before taking flight, switching hands midair and softly laying the ball in to give the 'Cuse a 54-51 lead with 8:24 to play. Following a pair of Wright free throws, Girard III showed off his slick passing skills by threading a ball through a Yellow Jacket defender to find Dolezaj for the lay-in with 7:07 to play, making the lead 56-53.

Gallery: (2/22/2020) MBB hosts Georgia Tech

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Elijah Hughes' sixth assist of the game gave him 100 assists on the season. He finished the game with seven.
Buddy Boeheim's three-point make at 12:14 in the second half was his 88^th of the campaign and put him in a 10th-place tie with Preston Shumpert on the program's single-season list..
Bourama Sidibe recorded 10+ rebounds for the fourth time this season. He ended the evening with 10.
Elijah Hughes recorded 20+ points for the 12^th time this season.
With 26,661 fans in attendance, the game marked the second-largest on-campus crowd for a contest during the 2019-20 season, trailing only the 31,458 fan crowd at the Dome to see the Orange take on Duke.
The Orange took a 7-6 advantage in the all-time series with Georgia Tech.
Syracuse shot 64 percent (16-of-25) from the field in the second half, its highest second-half shooting percentage of any game this season.

UP NEXT
The 'Cuse is back on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 26 when it plays at Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ACC Network.

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