Georgia Tech is a long shot to reach the postseason, but the Yellow Jackets can take solace in knowing they're playing perhaps their best basketball of the season.
The Yellow Jackets hope to continue their upward trend Tuesday when they visit Syracuse for an Atlantic Coast Conference contest.
Following a nine-game losing streak, Georgia Tech (12-17, 4-14 ACC) has won four of its last six games. Most recently, the team trounced Louisville 83-67 on Saturday as Javon Franklin stole the show with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
"You have two directions when you are on the ropes," coach Josh Pastner said. "You are either going to be in the fetal position or you are going to be on the ropes and claw, gauge, scratch, tackle, whatever you've got to do to get off the ropes. And to our guys' credit, they punched themselves off the ropes. I think we are playing as well as anyone in the ACC."
Meanwhile, Syracuse (16-13, 9-9) is flailing, losing three games in a row by 22, 18 and 17 points, respectively. The Orange fell Saturday at Pitt, 99-82, as they allowed the Panthers to convert 16 3-pointers.
Pitt scored 62 second-half points against Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone, much to the dismay of the veteran coach.
"We are just too young to be consistent and play good defense," Boeheim said.
"Teams have done a good job moving the ball in the high post and then kicking it out," senior guard Joe Girard III added. "We need to do a better job covering that."
This will be the second matchup of the season between the teams, as the Orange pounded the Yellow Jackets 80-63 on Jan. 21. Girard had 28 points in that one, while Maliq Brown chipped in with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting off the bench.
Dallan Coleman scored 17 points in the earlier matchup to pace Georgia Tech, which has lost four of the last five meetings with Syracuse.
Miles Kelly leads the Yellow Jackets this season with 13.4 points per game. Girard paces the Orange with 16.9 per game, followed closely by Judah Mintz with 16.0 points.
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