Kiyan Anthony looks the part, other takeaways from Syracuse’s 1st week
Through its first two games, Syracuse men’s basketball’s 39-point average margin of victory ranks sixth in the country. Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
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Syracuse opened the 2025-26 season by doing something it failed to do last year: look impressive against bad teams. The Orange began the campaign by dominating Binghamton 85-47 before securing their largest win since defeating Division II Chaminade by 49 in 2023, cruising to an 83-43 victory over Delaware State.
Through its first two games, SU’s average winning margin (39 points) ranks sixth in college basketball. Next, Syracuse travels to Philadelphia to face Drexel at a neutral site before a tune-up versus Monmouth. The Orange will then complete November by traveling to Las Vegas and facing a gauntlet in the Players Era Championship, with matchups against No. 1 Houston and No. 25 Kansas.
Before Syracuse faces Drexel on Saturday, here are five takeaways from its first week of the season:
Adrian Autry isn’t messing around
With the Orange leading by 35 midway through the second half against Delaware State, head coach Adrian Autry re-inserted his starting five and had it play virtually the rest of the game. Even with SU’s lead growing to 43 in the final minutes, and the student section chanting for walk-on Noah Lobdell to enter the game, Autry kept four of his primary rotation pieces in.
During Syracuse’s media day, the third-year head coach said if teams get a big lead in today’s game, they must keep playing.
“It’s the way it is now. The game has changed,” Autry explained. “That’s why it’s so hard to make the tournament because of the numbers and how everything shifts.”
Scoring margin isn’t directly factored into the NET rankings — a key metric the NCAA Tournament committee uses — but offensive and defensive efficiency hold significant weight. In simple terms, those rankings improve when a team scores efficiently and limits its opponents’ scoring.
In a pivotal season, Autry’s job may or may not hinge on whether the Orange make March Madness. Thus far, he’s done everything possible to position SU to snap its four-year NCAA Tournament drought, the program’s longest spell in over five decades.
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Kiyan Anthony looks the part
Regardless of whether he plays well, freshman Kiyan Anthony will be the most nationally talked-about player Syracuse has had, maybe since his father, Carmelo, was on campus. Anthony entered the season as the No. 32 prospect in his class, via 247Sports, and has looked every bit the part.
The shooting guard’s 17.0 points per game rank second on the Orange, while he’s also averaging 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds. Meanwhile, he’s shooting an efficient 66.7% from the floor and 42.9% from beyond the arc.
During SU’s media day, Anthony said he can contribute three-level scoring and has underrated playmaking ability as a freshman. After following up a 15-point performance versus Binghamton with 19 points against Delaware State, Autry said Anthony is a “really good” basketball player.
With the basketball world taking notice, including LeBron James, Anthony is already making a name for himself.
William Kyle III encapsulates SU’s new look
Pairing an infectious personality with a 6-foot-11, 265-pound frame made it impossible to miss Syracuse graduate senior center Eddie Lampkin Jr. on the court last year. While he became a walking double-double toward the end of the season, Lampkin’s playstyle is the opposite of what the Orange sought in the transfer portal to replace him.
SU instead went for William Kyle III, an undersized yet hyper-athletic center who would enable a more modern, faster offense. Defensively, he has the versatility to switch everything and provides far better rim protection. So far, Kyle has blocked seven shots, nearly halfway to the 16 Lampkin swatted last year.
Meanwhile, Kyle has been a prominent lob threat, giving Syracuse a new dynamic in both the half-court and in transition. While KenPom and Evan Miya rank the Orange 122nd and 150th in pace, respectively, those numbers should rise as their level of competition strengthens.
Beyond his rim-running and shot blocking, Kyle has also proven he can be a playmaker, dishing four assists in SU’s win over Delaware State. With Syracuse looking to play faster, Kyle has provided an early glimpse that he’s a match made in heaven.
Donnie Freeman stands out
Before suffering a season-ending injury 14 games into his freshman campaign, Donnie Freeman looked to be breaking out as one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s most talented players. Across his final seven games last year, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds. During that stretch, he accumulated two games scoring 20-plus points and notched three double-doubles.
Back to full health for the first time in years, his mother, Darshelle, told The Daily Orange in October, Freeman has thrived in his return to the court. The former five-star prospect is averaging 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 68.4% from the floor.
As a tougher stretch of competition looms, Syracuse will need Freeman to continue being the player he’s been across its first two games. If he does, NBA teams should be closely scouting him, and the Orange’s prospect of returning to March will exponentially increase.
3-point shooting off to a slow start
One of SU’s biggest downfalls last year — as the program suffered its worst season since the 1968-69 season — was its 3-point shooting. The Orange’s 32.8% 3-point percentage ranked 225th in the country, while their 32.7% 3PA/FGA (which measures the proportion of a team’s total field-goal attempts that are three-pointers) ranked 330th.
After Syracuse overhauled its roster during the offseason, its 3-point shooting was expected to become a strength. But SU has struggled so far, making just 28.6% of its triples, which ranks 278th in the nation.
Now on the New York Knicks’ staff, Eugene Tulyagijja told The D.O. he encouraged Autry to have the Orange attempt around 30 3-pointers per game while he was still with the program. Syracuse has attempted 21.0 per game, helping it improve its 3PA/FGA to 34.7%, placing 263rd nationally.
While the alarm bells shouldn’t be sounding since it’s only a two-game sample, the Orange’s success from beyond the arc could play a critical role in their future success.
