14-seed Syracuse eliminated by 11-seed SMU 86-69 in the first round of the ACC Tournament, ending SU’s season and the Adrian Autry Era

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had 14th-seeded Syracuse men’s basketball (15-17, 6-12 Atlantic Coast Conference) on the outside, not even close to a March Madness spot. The Orange needed a miracle run in the ACC Tournament to go dancing.

SU dropped its first round game to 11th-seeded SMU (20-12, 8-10 ACC) 86-69 on Tuesday, leaving the ‘Cuse with two straight losing seasons and plenty of questions going into a fifth straight offseason without sniffing the NCAA Tournament.

“We didn’t make shots, we couldn’t keep up with them,” SU head man Adrian Autry said. “You have to keep score with a team like SMU. It was a challenge to keep them off the glass, and in the second half, they started making shots, and that was the difference.”

Less than 24 hours after the game, one of the biggest questions regarding Syracuse’s future has been answered; SU has parted ways with head coach Adrian Autry, according to CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein. The university confirmed in an announcement on Wednesday.

The Adrian Autry Era lasted three years with no NCAA Tournament appearances and two straight losing seasons.

The ACC Tournament loss encapsulates the Autry era. SU started out the game strong, trailing by just one at the break. The Orange shot 45% from the field and knocked down six threes, half of them courtesy of guard Nate Kingz.

“It was a win-or-go-home mentality,” Kingz said. “I don’t know what the future holds for me, so I just wanted to leave it all out there and do whatever I could.”

The redshirt senior finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-18 shooting.

But once again, lapses in the second half that led to the Orange’s demise. The Mustangs won the second half 47-31, including a 10-2 run to open the frame.

“We were too inconsistent with each other,” SU forward Tyler Betsey said. “Whether that’s practice, people working, it shows against good teams, they can take advantage of that.”

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One of the biggest inconsistencies? Syracuse guard JJ Starling. The senior had just two points on 1-6 shooting from the field. In his last four games of his career, Starling had just six points combined and no made threes. The Central New York native ends his career at SU on a sour note after averaging 18 points a game a year ago.

“The hope was to work through those inconsistencies,” Autry said. “We wanted to develop on the job, and I think that’s where they came from. We knew there would be a learning curve, but we thought we had a group that could push through that, but that didn’t happen how we wanted it to.”

That’s the story of the Autry era. In his first year, he led the Orange to a 20-win season, a step in the right direction and a sign of hope for a fresh start. But then two losing seasons later, the former Syracuse basketball player was stuck thinking about his future as a coach.

“When the game is over with, there’s a lot of emotions. When a season is over with, you always think about your future,” Autry said.

And that's where Syracuse fans’ minds turn now that his tenure is over. According to ESPN senior writer Pete Thamel, the university’s plan is to have current Athletic Director John Wildhack fire Adrian Autry and for the incoming AD to hire the head coach.

Another question at the end of an era for Syracuse men’s basketball.