Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament dreams were shattered on Wednesday night not because they lost on the road to Louisville, but because just hours later NC State upset Duke.
The Orange (14-12,7-8) could have kept treading water even with a loss to Louisville as long as they took care of business in their final five games against some of the ACC’s weakest teams.
It was a race to one of those coveted Quadrant 1 wins between all of the teams on the NCAA Tournament’s bubble watch. Two of those teams were Syracuse and NC State. The Orange got blown out by #11 Louisville while the Wolfpack snagged their Quad 1 win as they disposed of #6 Duke.
Now Syracuse is left to playing the final stretch of their season cleaning up the mess of a bursted bubble.
First up, the Orange will host Georgia Tech (13-13,7-8) at the Dome tomorrow for a tilt that is scheduled to start just after 4:00.
The Yellow Jackets and the Orange have had pretty similar seasons in the ACC. Both have had flashes of greatness, including Georgia Tech’s upset win of Louisville a few weeks ago, coupled with stretches of underperformance.
Georgia Tech is riding a two game winning streak while Syracuse has lost three in a row.
For Syracuse to axe their recent skid and end the season on a positive note with an invitation to the NIT, they will need to go back to December and draw on their 97-63 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
In that game Elijah Hughes led the way with 33 points and Buddy Boeheim followed along with 26
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points.
Syracuse will have to slow down Tech’s backcourt duo of Michael Devoe and Jose Alvarado, who average a team leading 16.3 and 14 points per game, respectively.