Syracuse (15-8, 5-5 Atlantic Coast) pulled away in the second half and defeated Georgia Tech (12-9, 2-6), 60-57. Here are three quick observations as SU got back even in ACC play for the first time this season.

Riches to Rags, and back again

Malachi Richardson has been one of Syracuse’s most prominent players as it climbs back into ACC contention. On Saturday, he was almost nonexistent in the first half in the Orange offense, scoring no points. But he was in the middle of the offense just when Syracuse needed it down the stretch.

He got to the basket for a layup less than a minute into the second half, but was either on the bench, or a non-integral option for SU in the first 20 minutes.

He missed four free throws in the second half, but also hit a huge 3 to cut a four-point deficit to one with under five minutes to play. He had an and-one with the Orange down by two minutes later, and hit a free throw with the Orange up by two and 15.5 seconds to play.

He scored all 13 of his points in the second half, and again proved that it is difficult to keep his scoring down for a full 40 minutes. He iced the game with two free throws with 2.8 seconds left.

The Frank Engine

Frank Howard played his best game in a Syracuse uniform on Saturday afternoon and was rewarded with more important minutes.

He recorded four assists in his first six minutes of action, and finished with six on the day. He had zero turnovers and scored one point. His prettiest play came in transition when he fed a quick pass to an open Tyler Roberson in the post that ended with Syracuse scoring two points.

On the afternoon, he recorded 14 minutes, all of them meaningful. He dished Malachi Richardson on a 3-pointer that sliced a Syracuse deficit with under five minutes to play.

A New Daj

The Syracuse big man picked up two fouls in the game’s opening minutes and looked destined for a long afternoon on the bench. But when Tyler Lydon appeared to be overmatched by the Georgia Tech post players, SU head coach Jim Boeheim went back to Coleman and he provided his best game of the season.

Coleman scored 11 points and finished well in the post. His backed down his defender one-on-one to score his first basket before flipping in a layup. He was the beneficiary of nice passing from Frank Howard in the first half. He got hacked early in the second half to prevent him from getting an easy score from a Howard pass.

He fouled out with just over six minutes to play in the game and his defense presence was missed against GT big Charles Mitchell.

Published on January 30, 2016 at 2:04 pm