Syracuse jumped out to a 16-point first-half lead against Georgia Tech on Saturday and cruised to a 90-61 victory over the Yellow Jackets (17-14, 8-10 Atlantic Coast) in the Carrier Dome. The Orange (18-13, 10-8) relied on big scoring nights from Tyus Battle and Andrew White and improved its chances at reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Here are superlatives from the game.

The Big Moment — Syracuse’s 21-2 run

Georgia Tech cut the Orange’s lead to just five points with 12 minutes remaining. But then SU turned the game around on a furious 21-2 run spanning four minutes. Andrew White scored 17 of those 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Each make was greeted by a larger cheer from the Carrier Dome crowd of 30,448. The run also spanned across two Georgia Tech timeouts.

Stud — Andrew White

White sparked SU’s key second-half run and was the go-to player on the perimeter. He made 8-of-9 from behind the arc and surpassed his previous career-best total of 35 with 40. Before practice on Friday, he worked with assistant coach Adrian Autry on creating space at the 3-point line. He was able to find similar space against the Yellow Jackets and made GT pay.

In White’s last regular season game at home, he cemented himself as a player SU fans will remember.

Dud — Taurean Thompson

After sparking SU early on with a 3-pointer to cap a game-opening 16-4 run, Thompson cooled off. Tyler Roberson replaced Thompson in the lineup and played the majority of minutes instead. Thompson is the Orange’s best low-post scorer but against an offensively-challenged team like Georgia Tech, SU didn’t need Thompson. He finished with five points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

Highlight — Dajuan Coleman checking in

With about six and a half minutes left, SU’s student section began cheering “We want Coleman!” a call for Syracuse’s senior from nearby Jamesville-DeWitt (New York) High School. After about three minutes of pleading, head coach Jim Boeheim put him in the game. Saturday was Coleman’s final regular season home game and the fans delivered a big sendoff for the former McDonald’s All-American. Coleman had only played in three conference games entering the GT matchup, because his knees haven’t held up, Boeheim said, but the fans delivered a great moment.

Lowlight — Georgia Tech’s 9-0 run to start second half

The Yellow Jackets entered halftime down by 12 but quickly cut the deficit to three. Georgia Tech similarly came back from a nine-point deficit two weeks ago in Atlanta, but this time, the Orange held on to secure the win, its 16th home win of the year.

Published on March 4, 2017 at 6:07 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds