Whose Stock Rose From Georgia Tech's Loss to Syracuse on Tuesday?

Whose stock rose the most for the Yellow Jackets despite a loss they suffered to Syracuse. Several players stepped up and played at a high level to nearly mount a 20-point comeback. Let’s take a look at which stock rose after the loss.

1. Baye Ndongo

latest — Jan 3, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets forward Baye Ndongo (11) shoots against the Boston College Eagles in the second half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Ndongo had a scary sight when he went down wth an injury in the first half and had to be helped off the court. However, he returned in the second half and dominated the Syracuse front court in the paint with his ability to rebound. Ndongo finished with 20 points on 8-13 shooting. He was one rebound shy of a double-double. Head coach Damon Stoudamire talked about his performance on Tuesday night.

“I just thought I was Baye was a little more active, more than anything. I thought he was more active. The biggest thing with him and I've been preaching to him is, he'll continue to work himself into it, but he just has to continue to work his stamina. He gotta get vitamins, get a little more vitamins. If y'all don't know what that is, that's just working out. So you gotta get his vitamins.You know, it's like moving all the time. You know what I know? Hopefully, you know, cause I didn't even know if he was going to come back because I knew he didn't mess his knee up, but what happened is it looked like he just came down on the floor, boom. And it's just one of the things, you know, it's just. Hopefully he doesn't have any stiffness and nothing in the morning because to me, it'd be big for him to just go on the floor and do 20-25 minutes of work, you know, because he has to build himself up,” said Stoudamire.

2. Georgia Tech second half defense

In the first half, the Yellow Jackets had issues guarding Syracuse and had a hard time getting stops. In the second half, the flip switched, and the defense intensified. Georgia Tech started to pressure the ball and create a myriad of turnovers. Georgia Tech forced six alone against former Yellow Jacket Nait George. Part of those turnovers was the on-ball defense by Jaeden Mustaf and Lamar Washington. Kowacie Reeves also contributed with three steals. If the Yellow Jackets can have that level of defense every time they are on the floor, they can make some noise this season.

“Well, we've been up the floor for most of the season. I think that tonight we did it out of urgency, obviously. It's part of our package. Again, when you gotta generate points and you have a hard time generating them, like we did tonight, especially in the first half, then you gotta change, you gotta start doing different things. But again, I say that our offense until recently hadn't been great. We were getting better with it. So again, the disappointing thing is that tonight was the first time I actually seen us missing shots and it affected us. I think it affected us because obviously Syracuse making shots, it just kind of, was one after another, after another. Then again, I say this, you know, and this is again for me, I'm different. I think a little differently. I would rather. JJ Starling and Nait George pull up and make a jump shot, then somebody gets a dunk. What that does is it gets the team going. That's like a pick six in football. You're getting the team going, you're getting guys going, and now they're picking up the energy. And so now they're coming down on defense and now they're doing things. I hope that we learn from this game and understand that we can't allow this to happen again if we want to be successful,” said Stoudamire.

3. Jaeden Mustaf

Mustaf was essential in a second-half run for the Yellow Jackets with his defensive prowess. His ability to guard not only perimeter players but also front-court players. His ability to switch was on full display. He was getting steals, blocking shots, and staying in front of players. Defensively, he finished with four rebounds, a block, and a steal. He finished with 10 points on 2-6 shooting. More importantly, he was aggressive driving to the cup and drawing fouls. Mustaf went 5-8 from the free-throw line. Off the bench, Mustaf has continued to be a dependable player and one they can lean on to help the team, especially defensively.

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