Syracuse loses big lead, but holds off Georgia Tech for its first ACC victory

The Orange led by 20 points in the second half, but allowed the Yellow Jackets to pull within six points before pulling out the win

Jan 6, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Sadiq White Jr. (0) dunks against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the first half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

A hot second half start by Donnie Freeman helped Syracuse build a 20-point lead, but Georgia Tech erased most of that margin before falling to their guests, 82-72.  Freeman rolled up nine straight points to push the Orange (10-5, 1-1 ACC) to a 54-34 lead with 3:30 elapsed in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets (10-6, 1-2) closed within six before wilting in the final three minutes.

Despite that healthy lead, the Orange were not able to but Georgia Tech away in the second half.  While the margin reached 20 points on three separate occasions, the Jackets were able to chip away, getting within 72-67 with nine straight points before the final media timeout.

After that break in play, SU was able to get a couple stops while squeezing out a Freeman foul shot, a Freeman dunk late in the shot clock, and a J.J. Starling free throw to stretch the margin back out to nine.  A Georgia Tech 3-pointer pulled them within 76-70, but William Kyle III rejected a Baye Ndongo shot on their next possession, leading to George being fouled and swishing a pair from the stripe.

That allowed Syracuse enough breathing room to hang on as George and Freeman answered a pair of Jacket free throws by closing the scoring with a pair of foul shots apiece.

SU played enough defense early to help hold off the Yellow Jacket comeback

Despite the late Georgia Tech rally, the Orange defense keyed their victory by holding the hosts to 39.1 percent shooting overall and just 4-of-18 from 3-point range.  SU also cleaned up a lot of those misses be grabbing almost three-fourths of all possible defensive rebounds as they built up a 44-34 advantage on the glass.

Freeman’s burst was the second significant run of the game for the Orange.  Neither team led by more than four points until SU unleashed a 12-3 run midway through the first half to open up a tie game.  That burst featured six points from Kiyan Anthony and gave the Syracuse their biggest lead to that point at 30-21.

The Orange pushed that margin into double figures multiple times in the final four minutes of the half, including to 44-30 at halftime after former Yellow Jacket Naithan George set up Anthony on a backdoor cut for a lay-up and added two foul shots in the final minute before the break.

Georgia Tech quickly chipped the margin down to 11 coming out of the half, but Freeman blew the game wide open by ripping off a 9-0 run in under two minutes to boost the SU lead to 54-34 and force a Yellow Jacket timeout before the under-four media break.

Freeman’s hot start to the second half keyed his 18 points after intermission and game-high 27 overall.  He also paced the Orange with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.  George was a perfect 10-of-10 for the foul line as he finished with 17 points, but also six turnovers.  Anthony was the only other SU player to reach double figures with all 11 of his points coming in the first half.

Ndongo had 14 points and eight rebounds in the second half for the Yellow Jackets to finish with 20 points and nine boards.  Leading scorer Kowacie Reeves Jr. struggled much of the night, including finishing 1-of-6 from long range, but had 11 points.  Jaeden Mustaf chipped in ten points while Akai Fleming and Lamar Washington each added nine.

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