Less than a week removed from a fruitless trip to Vegas, the Syracuse Orange returned home to a frigid Central New York to play their fourth-straight ranked opponent. Squaring off with the #13 Tennessee Volunteers, it was the Cuse’s last chance to build any sort of non-conference resume. The highly competitive game came down to the final second, and ended with a 62-60 result that saw the home fans storm the court and Adrian Autry secure his biggest win as the head coach of Syracuse.
Syracuse Ends a Truly Brutal 4-Game Stretch With a Massive Victory
Tuesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome was a familiar situation for the Syracuse Orange. The previous week, the team had entered as big underdogs against elite opposition in Las Vegas as part of the Player’s Era Championship. After falling to #3 Houston in overtime, fading against Kansas, and getting demolished in the second half against #15 Iowa State, the Orange had already let three opportunities for season-defining wins slip away. #13 Tennessee represented another measuring stick-type contest.
The two programs had squared off the year prior, with the result being an easy 96-70 victory for Rick Barnes and the Volunteers. Tennessee went on to go 27-9 and be just one game away from the Final Four. Syracuse went on to win just 14 games and miss out on March for the fourth straight year.
This time, Syracuse was ready to make the most of their opportunity. Guard Nate Kingz erupted for 19 points in the first half, with seniors JJ Starling and William Kyle III closing out the game to give the Cuse a 62-60 victory. Orange fans stormed the court following the upset that represents a highly consequential Quad 1 win for Syracuse.
While Kingz led the way with 19 points, all of which came in the first half, a number of Syracuse players made important contributions on offense. Last year’s leading scorer JJ Starling had 12 points, including a 5-0 run by himself in the late stages of the second half. Freshman Sadiq White Jr. had 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. Kyle III was in double-figures as well, adding 7 boards and 6 blocks. Kiyan Anthony chipped in 7 off the bench. After the game, Anthony declared that the team rallied around Coach Autry after their disappointing run in Vegas.
“Coming off of those three losses in Vegas, he was a little down. So just trying to prove to him that we’ve still got him.”
Count it 👌@kiyananthony pic.twitter.com/mvrHE60sMO
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 3, 2025
Syracuse Continues to Hang Their Hat on Defense
The entire team played another very impressive game on defense. Anchored by the rim protection of Kyle, players like Starling, Kingz, and even Nait George did a great job of pressuring the ball and forcing turnovers. Tennessee had 16 turnovers, 7 of which were by freshman star Nate Ament. The athletic forward was mostly neutralized by players like Starling doing a great job at the point of attack. Ament had 11 points on 2-10 shooting.
Defense has been the calling card for Syracuse this season so far. Adrian Autry was very excited about his team’s performance on that end in the postgame press conference.
“We won it on the defensive end of the floor. That’s what you’re gotta do to beat the Tennessees of the world.”
Syracuse’s defense had given them a chance against Houston, where they held the Cougars to 36% shooting, and Kansas, where they won the turnover battle 15-2. While both of those results failed to go their way, a little bit of home court advantage was perhaps the tipping point against Tennessee. Even Rick Barnes called them “the best (Syracuse) defensive team since we’ve been playing the last couple years.”
While the defense remained high level, the offense also showed some improvement. While Syracuse was too eager to launch three pointers in Vegas, shooting almost 30 per game, they shot a much more modest 19 against Tennessee. Knocking down 5 triples, Syracuse made a concerted effort to get into the paint and create easier looks. They also looked better from the free throw line, making 13-22, which is 59% (yes, that is an improvement).
With a signature non-conference win, Syracuse now has 5 more games before ACC play starts. After finally breaking through with a victory over a ranked team, the group should be moving forward with the confidence to compete with anyone in the ACC.
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