Syracuse (14-8, 4-5 Atlantic Coast) takes on Georgia Tech (12-8, 2-5) on Saturday at noon. The Orange is coming off an 81-66 win against No. 25 Notre Dame on Thursday night. SU has now won four of its last five games after starting conference play 0-4.

Here’s how our beat writers predict the game will unfold.

Sam Blum (15-7)
Syracuse 77, Georgia Tech 59
Bumbling Bees

Syracuse showed on Thursday night that it was a bona fide NCAA Tournament team. Bona fide Tournament teams beat up teams like Georgia Tech. The Orange has all of its rotation players all rising at the same point of the season, and its turned into a revival of a once-lost 2016 campaign. Malachi Richardson is on another level right now, and he leads Syracuse over the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.

Jesse Dougherty (15-7)
Syracuse 71, Georgia Tech 64
Wrecking the Wreck

Syracuse will be on a high after beating No. 25 Notre Dame in style, and it won’t dissipate, not yet at least, when the Yellow Jackets come to town. The Orange rode a balanced scoring effort to a lopsided win over the Fighting Irish, and similar ball-sharing turns into another convincing win on Saturday. Defense has been the key for SU all season, and another good stabilizing performance from the guys inside does the trick.

Matt Schneidman (15-7)
Syracuse 71, Georgia Tech 62
Buzzkill

If Syracuse plays like it did against Notre Dame, Saturday will be no fun for the Yellow Jackets. Richardson is clicking on all cylinders, and Tyler Lydon has developed into a formidable post defender. Against Georgia Tech center Charles Mitchell, the league’s top rebounder, the freshman’s defensive resurgence couldn’t come at a better time. Michael Gbinije seemed like a supporting cast member behind Trevor Cooney, Richardson and Lydon, and the point guard still had 15 points, five assists and four rebounds. That scoring depth, yes Syracuse depth, should scare people.

Published on January 29, 2016 at 10:39 am