Syracuse men’s basketball (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) is off to a flying start ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Drexel (1-2, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Conference). The Orange have had two dominant non-conference wins to start the year at home. The first an 85-47 season opening dub against Binghamton, and then most recently an 83-43 clobbering of Delaware State.
It was another blowout for the Orange, as @Cuse_MBB avoided the swarm in an 83-43 win over @DSUMBB.@adamhipsky and @NickEv610 had the call from the JMA Wireless Dome. pic.twitter.com/nesboMED8V
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) November 8, 2025
On the other side of things, Drexel has struggled out of the gate riding a two-game losing streak heading into Saturday. The Dragons lone win of the season came against DIII Widener University in their season opener. Safe to say the Orange are heavy favorites in what will be just the sixth ever meeting between the two sides.
Defense is not something SU was known for last year. The Orange let up nearly 80 points a game a season ago which ranked second to last in the ACC. Flip to this year though, and something has significantly changed. Given its only been two games, but SU holds the best scoring defense in the country letting up just 45 points a game. Orange head coach Adrian Autry had this to say about the defense following the victory on Saturday.
“We don’t want anyone to be comfortable. We want to get after people…defense is about a mentality.”
Syracuse held Delaware State to just 21.5% shooting from the field, the lowest percentage for a team since 2014. And speaking of 2014, the Orange let up under 50 points for a second straight game. Unbelievably, it's the first time that SU has held its first two opponents of the year to under 50 since the 2014-15 season. All of this points to SU having another stellar defense outing on Saturday against the Dragons, especially with Drexel averaging just 67 points a game. Enough about the defense though, the Syracuse offense has also had a sharp start to the year.
The story for the Orange on the other side of the floor, SU has been relying on forward Donnie Freeman and guard Kiyan Anthony to lead.
Freeman has been Syracuse’s leading scorer in both games this year, dropping 20 in both. The DC native is the first player to score 20+ in each of the first two since Judah Mintz in 2023. Freeman is simply trying to make an impact after missing more than half the year last season due to injury.
“I mean to get back to the fun it took a lot of hard work, for me dealing with the foot injury getting my feet under me. But I feel like I’m in a good place. Everything is a stepping stone for later in the season.”
The fun has been on full display, with Freeman shooting 70% from inside the arc so far this year. SU is simply hoping it will last.
As for Anthony, it feels like his dad Carmelo is back on the squad with the way he has been playing. The freshman dropped 14 in the season opener, before following it up with 19 in his first collegiate start on Saturday. Autry is taking notice of the young hoopers game.
“He’s a basketball player first of all, that's what I really want to say. I know people want to keep saying he’s a three level scorer, he’s a really good basketball player. He can pass, he can score, he can make plays.”
Anthony leads the squad in minutes, and places second for points and three point percentage. Both him and Freeman look to have a day against a Drexel defense that is surrendering nearly 80 points a contest, middle third of teams in the country.
Speaking of the Dragons, it's been a rocky start still searching for the first DI win of the season. Drexel was selected to finish 10th out of 13th teams in the CAA after an 18-15 campaign in which it placed eighth in the conference.
The Dragons are led by All-CAA honorable mention guard Shane Blakeney. The junior was the sixth man for Drexel last season, appearing in all 33 games with 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game. This year, Blakeney leads the Dragons with 43 points through the first three games, and matched his career-high with 24 points last time out against Colgate.
Another guy who dropped 24 points against the Raiders is DIII transfer Eli Beard. The guard went 9-12 from the field, while also dropping four threes. Beard dropped just 13 points in the two games prior. The three is a place where the Dragons should try to stay away from, with the Orange letting up just two threes in the first two games. While two semi-new faces in Blakeney and Beard have been the two leading the way for Drexel on the floor, its head coach has been the same for a while now.
The Dragons are led by Zach Spiker in his 10th season. The 26th head coach in program history has amassed a record of 132-147 in his time with Drexel. He guided the Dragons to their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1996 back in 2021 after winning the conference tournament.
Overall, it should be fun between Syracuse and Drexel from the XFinity Center. We’re still waiting to hear if guard JJ Starling will be available for SU on Saturday, with Autry saying,
“He’s day-to-day, he could be with us as early as Saturday”
Regardless of if Starling plays or not, SU has already shown it has plenty of firepower to get by without him. Make sure to tune into the matchup between Syracuse and Drexel on WAER at 3:30, with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tip-Off at 3:00.