Syracuse men’s basketball holds off Florida State for third straight ACC win

Syracuse men’s basketball (12-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued its strong start to conference play Tuesday night, holding off Florida State (7-10, 0-4 ACC) for a 94-86 victory inside the JMA Wireless Dome.

The Orange relied on efficient shooting to navigate a back-and-forth contest that featured seven lead changes, with neither team holding an advantage greater than 10 points. Syracuse shot a season-best 60 percent from the field and knocked down a season-high 11 3-pointers.

Despite the offensive output, head coach Adrian Autry said there is still room for improvement on the other end of the floor.

“I’m really disappointed on the defensive side of the basketball, and it’s been like that the last couple of games even though our offense has improved,” Autry said.

Donnie Freeman led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting, scoring nine of his points in the final six minutes. The sophomore has now posted 20 or more points in three straight games since returning from injury.

“Donnie is just efficient,” Autry said. “He does a good job of getting to his spots or he can get to the foul line. He’s a mismatch problem.”

Florida State set the early tempo, jumping out in front behind hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Seminoles connected on five of their first nine 3-point attempts and led for much of the opening half. Syracuse stayed within striking distance thanks to Tyler Betsey’s early shooting, as the junior finished with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from deep.

A 13-4 run to close the half gave the Orange a 43-40 lead at the break.

Out of halftime, Syracuse leaned on the interior presence of William Kyle III, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second half. His production at the rim helped the Orange build a brief double-digit lead, but Florida State continued to answer. The Seminoles went on a 15-7 run and briefly took a 69-68 lead with under 10 minutes remaining.

“I thought Will was really good,” Autry said. “I thought we could have gotten him the ball a little more.”

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Syracuse responded with an 8-0 run of its own to regain control. Leading by four with under a minute to play, Naithan George found Kyle III for an alley-oop to extend the margin to six. Moments later, JJ Starling put the finishing touch on the win with a breakaway dunk, ending the night with 15 points.

George added eight points and a career-high 13 assists, while Kyle III’s 11 points pushed him past the 1,000-point mark for his career. Kobe MaGee led Florida State with 20 points. Despite making 11 more free throws than Syracuse, the Seminoles were unable to close the gap late.

“They’ve got standings, so it means more when you win,” Betsey said on ACC play. “We want to be the best team in the conference, so we want to win every game.”

The victory marks Syracuse’s third straight ACC win after opening conference play with a loss to Clemson. SU carries that momentum on the road this weekend when it travels to Chestnut Hill to face Boston College.

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