Syracuse basketball opens the Players Era Festival with its toughest challenge so far in No. 2 Houston

Syracuse men's basketball (4-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) opens its week in Las Vegas at the Players Era Festival against No. 2 Houston (5-0, 0-0 Big 12), marking the beginning of SU’s toughest non-conference stretch.

Of the 18 teams playing in the festival, Syracuse and Houston are two of nine who enter the tournament undefeated. While SU hasn’t played anyone of note, Houston had an early-season test against No. 22 Auburn. The Cougars scraped by with a three-point win.

The 2025 season has come with a new-and-improved defensive mentality as well as a focus on analytics for SU. The introduction of kills, or three defensive stops in a row, to both the team and the fans in the dome is a huge part of the defensive surge. The analytics back it up, too. Seven kills in a game leads to a 90% win rate. Increase that to eight, and it’s 98%. In order to kill, you have to hunt, which is the new defensive mantra for the Orange. There are always challenges with a complete defensive overhaul, and head coach Adrian Autry detailed them recently.

“I think that's what we're always fighting against as coaches, is trying to get that consistency, that level of consistency, and the brand of basketball that we play. You know, we want to be up in people's personal space.”

The consistency is certainly still an issue for SU. After allowing fewer than 50 points in each of its first three games for the first time since 1949, the ‘Cuse faltered on Tuesday against Monmouth. The Hawks put up 73, and the Orange escaped with just a five-point win at home.

If there’s any team for Syracuse to model its defensive strategy after, it’s Houston. Across his 11 seasons, head coach Kelvin Sampson has implemented one of the best defenses in college basketball season to season. The Cougars are aggressive on defense, with a game plan for stopping every little action from a basic pick-and-roll to pin downs and flares. Last year, Houston was first in defensive efficiency according to KenPom. That marked the program's third straight year in the top three, and fifth straight in the top five. Sampson gave some insight as to how his team limits opponents.

“Every defense has to have something that you disrupt with…For us, we have two things we try to disrupt with: our monster and our pick-and-roll defense. That’s it. And if you’re solid, it’s amazing how many times the other team will make a mistake.”

The beating heart of Syracuse’s defensive resurgence this season is UCLA transfer William Kyle. The Nebraska native averages five defensive rebounds per game and over three rejections per contest, good for fifth in the nation. Head Coach Adrian Autry has heaped nothing but praise on the senior.

“I thought they really set the tone, protecting the paint, contesting everything, going in there, going inside. William Kyle, in particular, he's a guy that, defensively, he's off the charts… his IQ is very high.”

Cuse.com

This week in Vegas represents a significantly different test for each of these teams. For a Syracuse team that hasn’t faced an opponent ranked above 200 according to KenPom, Houston and Kansas are the first real challenges of the year. For Houston, Syracuse and No. 22 Tennessee are opportunities to prove what they already know - that the Cougars are one of the top teams in the country, and perennial tournament contenders.

Syracuse’s slate in the Players Era Festival begins on Tuesday at 6. WAER’s coverage starts at 5:30 with McClurg Remodelling Countdown to Tipoff on 88.3 FM or here on waer.org.