A sellout crowd took home another memory to savor from McCamish Pavilion.
To the ranks of North Carolina, Florida State and Notre Dame, Georgia Tech added a conquest of Syracuse Sunday night, a 71-65 defeat achieved with the Yellow Jackets’ typical defensive vigor, stellar play from center Ben Lammers and a run in the middle of the second half that sent Tech fans into delirium.
Tech (16-11 overall, 7-7 ACC) rendered open looks at the basket a relative rarity for Syracuse (16-12, 8-7), which played one of its poorest offensive games of the season. At the heart of the effort was Lammers, who blocked more Syracuse shots (seven) than any Orange opponent has all season.
Five observations from the game:
When the game was won
Taking advantage of Syracuse’s poor shooting, the Jackets took off on a 14-2 run midway through the second half that took the score from a 35-all tie to a 49-37 advantage for the Jackets. In the spurt: a layup by guard Josh Heath in transition, an and-one layup in transition from guard Tadric Jackson after a made basket by Syracuse, a dunk by Lammers off an inbounds, catching the Orange asleep, and a 3-pointer by Jackson.
“We got some of our offense through our defense,” coach Josh Pastner said. “We really guarded.”
The margin, which ultimately expanded to 13 pionts, provided enough cushion for the Jackets to survive a last-minute rally that narrowed the margin to two points (67-65) with 56 seconds remaining.
First-half troubles
Tech had a tough time early adjusting to Syracuse’s defensive quickness out of its 2-3 zone. In their first six possesssions, the Jackets had three shots blocked and lost the ball on a shot-clock violation. Tech eventually found its groove, working possessions deep into the shot clock for open shots. Tech was at its best moving the ball quickly to find open shooters or to get the ball into Lammers in the post.
“We stayed with the game plan, attacked the way we wanted to attack,” said forward Quinton Stephens, who had a career-high eight assists.
The Jackets nearly lost contact with Syracuse late in the half when back-to-back 3-pointers by Syracuse guard Andrew White triggered a 10-0 run for a 30-21 lead at the 2:00 mark. However, the Jackets finished the half with a lay-in by guard Josh Okogie (after collecting a deflected shot), a free throw from Okogie and a deep 3-pointer from Jackson at the buzzer that closed the gap to 32-29.
Starring role
Lammers played one of his finest games in a season littered with superb performances. Lammers’ line: 23 points, seven rebounds, seven blocks, three steals, two assists, one turnover, 40 minutes played.
It followed one of his weakest games of the season, when he scored 15 points but gathered a season-low three rebounds in 40 minutes of play in Tech’s 70-61 loss to Miami last Wednesday. Lammers played on a sprained ankle that kept him out of practice the two days leading up to the game and lacked his normal explosion.
Scoring around the rim and on jump shots, Lammers made 11 of 18 shots from the field. His seven blocks tied for second most in Tech history in an ACC game, and he did it against a team that is one of the toughest to block in Division I.
“I think he could be the most improved player in the country,” Pastner said.
It was the third game this season, and second in a row, that Lammers played all 40 minutes, a highly unusual accomplishment for a player standing 6-foot-10.
Tough on defense
Tech played one of its best defensive games of the season, holding Syracuse to 35.7 percent shooting from the field, the Orange’s lowest rate of the ACC season. Syracuse came into the game shooting 46.4 percent from the field in ACC games. Tech played mostly out of a 2-3 zone that rotated crisply and rarely permitted open shots.
Syracuse attempted just 12 free throws, well under its ACC per-game average of 19.3. Intererstingly, the Jackets went to the line just three times in their loss to Miami while the Hurricanes attempted 27, a disparity that did not escape Pastner. Tech went to the line 22 times Sunday.
NCAA hopes
Tech held its position on the NCAA tournament bubble with the win. At 16-11 (the NCAA selection committee will not consider one of those wins, over Division II Tusculum), the Jackets picked up two spots in RPI, from 78 to 76, according to warrennolan.com. It helps, too, that Syracuse is also a bubble team.
If Tech can finish the regular season at 19-12, its chances to earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 2010 look pretty good. After Syracuse, Tech plays N.C. State at home Tuesday, then goes to No. 25 Notre Dame Sunday and then plays two games in the final week of the regular season against Pittsburgh and Syracuse again.
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