Syracuse escapes Monmouth 78-73 in final tune-up before Vegas trip
Despite winning its first three games by 30-plus points, Syracuse squeaked by Monmouth for its fourth win of the season Tuesday. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
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It’s more than likely Adrian Autry is coaching for his job in 2025-26. So it was imperative for Syracuse to do what it didn’t last year: immediately dominate cupcake opponents before the schedule gets tough. Entering one of the most challenging portions of SU’s season this year, though, Autry’s squad has played as close to flawless as possible.
That story changed on Tuesday night. Syracuse (4-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) delivered its fourth consecutive victory by downing Monmouth (1-3, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) 78-73 in the JMA Wireless Dome. However, the Orange played a lackadaisical first half, went 19-for-33 from the free-throw line and saw their lead shrink to two points with 34.7 seconds left despite leading by as much as 14 in the second half.
A couple of late free-throws by Donnie Freeman almost put the game away for Syracuse, but Monmouth had a game-tying shot attempt with mere seconds remaining on the game clock. Hawks’ guard Jason Rivera-Torres missed and SU held on.
Despite the late-game blunders, guard Nate Kingz’s 15 points and a 12-point, nine-assist night from point guard Naithan George spurred Syracuse to a victory.
It was the Orange’s final tune-up before they face No. 2 Houston and No. 24 Kansas early next week in Las Vegas. What Syracuse displayed versus Monmouth, Binghamton, Delaware State and Drexel will not fully translate against a pair of national-title contenders. Still, SU’s trajectory is reaching significant heights right now.
The Hawks entered Tuesday boasting the fourth-best defense in the country on 2-point attempts, per KenPom. They allowed a 36.9% clip from inside the 3-point arc across their first three games. So early on, Syracuse adjusted by living on the perimeter, where Kingz and George each buried 3s within the first five minutes. SU finished the night 7-for-17 from 3.
But Monmouth came out firing offensively, too. It started off 3-for-5 from deep and held a 15-14 advantage with 11:49 to go in the first half. Meanwhile, SU guard J.J. Starling got into early foul trouble with two personals before the midway point of the first half.
The Orange stayed steady on offense and forced seven Hawks’ turnovers in the first 13 minutes. A couple of ferocious dunks by freshman forward Sadiq White fired up the sparse Dome crowd. Yet, because Syracuse struggled to score points off turnovers and was being outrebounded 13-4 by the under-12 timeout, Monmouth kept a narrow lead early on.
Then SU pulled away slightly to close the opening half after a 7-0 run. Star freshman Kiyan Anthony capped off the run by blowing past Monmouth guard Justin Ray en route to a 3-point play — Anthony banged his head against the padding behind the rim in celebration.
However, a technical foul on Freeman helped the Hawks generate a 7-2 burst to end the first half with Syracuse up 36-33.
There’s no sugarcoating it: Syracuse’s first half was bad. It got outrebounded 20-17. It shot 27% from 3-point range (3-for-11) after starting 2-for-2. And it saw two crucial scoring options, Kingz and Anthony, combine to shoot 3-for-13 from the field over the opening 20 minutes.
The Orange shot 67% over the final 20 minutes, which began with a seven-point spark in a six-minute span by Kingz where he drained a 3 and scored twice inside. A huge 3 from Anthony increased SU’s lead to 46-39, and a successful alley-oop from George to a soaring William Kyle III brought its advantage to 52-44. Syracuse played much faster and more clinical than it did in the first half.
Despite continuous flurries from Monmouth’s Ray, who finished with a game-high 25 points, SU applied pressure consistently down the stretch. Most of that came through Kingz, who drained a 3 from far beyond the left wing after Kyle pulled down an offensive rebound for some crucial second-chance points.
The bucket, which brought Kingz’s scoring total to 15 at the time, put the Orange ahead 59-45. The dagger seemed to occur with just over four minutes left when George fed Starling for a deep 3-pointer — which Starling cashed to give SU a commanding 70-60 lead.
Yet, the Orange didn’t close the victory out in convincing fashion as the Hawks outscored them by five over the final 3:30.
With a gauntlet looming next week at Las Vegas’ Player’s Era Festival, the Orange are in the best position they could be heading into the tournament. They entered Tuesday holding opponents to the lowest effective field goal percentage in the country at 30.8%. They also entered while riding their longest streak of 30-plus point blowouts since the 1980s.
Win or lose in Las Vegas, there’s little excuse for a poor showing. Autry’s employment status at the end of the season could depend on it.
