Syracuse (15-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) plays its second consecutive road game on Wednesday at Georgia Tech (10-11, 3-5) in Atlanta’s McCamish Pavilion. The Orange is on a three-game winning streak after dropping four in a row, and most recently beat Pittsburgh 60-55 on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets just lost, 72-70, to Clemson at home on Sunday.

Here’s what to know about the matchup.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 5-4

Last time they played: Syracuse torched Georgia Tech, 90-61, last March in the Orange’s season finale at the Carrier Dome. Graduate transfer Andrew White III (40 points) and Tyus Battle (22) outscored the Yellow Jackets by themselves.

The Georgia Tech report: The Yellow Jackets are a funky team because, early in the season, they edged Northwestern, the 82nd-ranked team on Kenpom.com, and then lost at home to Grambling State, the 297th-ranked team. Since, the Yellow Jackets have stumbled around, losing to Wright State and Notre Dame, but going on a four-game winning streak that started with Miami. Since then, though, GT has lost four in a row and most recently against Clemson.

On offense, senior shooting guard Tadric Jackson often dictates how the Yellow Jackets play. He leads the team by shooting about 30 percent of his team’s shots when he’s on the floor but only averages 12.1 points per game. If he’s on, usually so is GT, though their most consistent contributor is sophomore guard Josh Okogie. The Snellville, Georgia, native averages 18.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

On defense, Jose Alvarado pilfers 1.7 steals per game up top, but center Ben Lammers, who averages 8.5 rebounds per game to pair with 11.7 points, sets the tone. Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner pointed out that Syracuse redshirt-junior center Paschal Chukwu has 22 blocks in eight conference games, and that Lammers isn’t far behind with 19.

“Obviously both of us play zone,” Pastner said, “and we rely on some of those shot-blocking opportunities.”

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim dismissed the early season struggles for Georgia Tech when asked about the team on Monday, saying he’s seen them on tape several times this season and that they look drastically different now.

“They’re not the same team they were earlier in the year,” he said. “They weren’t healthy and didn’t have players. Now they’re healthy, and I thought they played great (against Clemson). I thought they played great in a couple of their losses. … They looked much better than the team we saw last year, and they beat us down there last year. I was very impressed with how they played.”

How Syracuse beats Georgia Tech: Turn them over.

The Yellow Jackets give the ball away on almost one of every five possessions — a rate in the bottom half of the nation’s teams. In a three-game skid in mid-January, GT turned the ball over 49 times against Virginia, North Carolina and Florida State. Those numbers robbed the Yellow Jackets of so many possessions that Pastner felt like his team couldn’t generate enough offensive chances to win. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Pastner finally resorted to substituting players out as soon as they committed a turnover. He stuck to his promise against Clemson, and it worked, as Georgia Tech had nine turnovers total in the game. Yet hot 3-point shooting by the Tigers — and timely turnovers by the Yellow Jackets — propelled Clemson to the win.

“The reason we had a chance to win the game or tie the game (at the end) was because we took care of the ball for the most part,” Pastner told reporters after the game.

If Syracuse doesn’t want to give Georgia Tech a chance to win, it would be best served by burying GT early with its own mistakes.

Stat to know: 45.2 percent

Beyond the arc, Georgia Tech allows opponents to shoot 35.8 percent, 213th in the country. Inside it, GT clamps down on opponents, which only shoot 45.2 percent, the 36th-best interior defense in the country. This seems extra relevant because Syracuse gets its points from 3 at one of the lowest percentages in the nation (24.5 percent, according to Kenpom.com) and hits one of the nation’s worst rates from behind the arc (32.0). Syracuse will likely be forced inside.

The disparity between outside and interior defense for the Yellow Jackets is one of the largest in the country and is keyed by monster center Lammers.

Kenpom odds: Kenpom gives Syracuse a 58 percent chance to win and predicts a 60-58 victory. It’s one of two road games for the rest of the season in which Syracuse is favored to win.

Player to watch: Ben Lammers, center, No. 44

The 6-foot-10, 234-pound senior center burst into GT’s starting lineup after being a reserve for his first two years in Atlanta. Then he was an All-ACC player his junior year and was picked on the preseason All-ACC first team by the media before this season. He plays 90 percent of Georgia Tech’s minutes but only shoots on one of about every five possessions, according to Kenpom. Pastner has repeatedly praised him as one of the team’s most important players.

Published on January 30, 2018 at 9:14 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR