Support The Daily Orange this holiday season! The money raised between now and the end of the year will go directly toward aiding our students. Donate today.

Two-point ballgames in the JMA Wireless Dome are exactly what head coach Adrian Autry wants. As evidenced by Autry awarding a “Fighter of the Game” after each win, the third-year head coach simply wants his team to fight.

But fighting to the end doesn’t always equal wins. And Syracuse’s (9-5, 0-1 ACC) 64-61 loss to Clemson (11-3, 1-0 ACC) in its ACC opener is the latest example.

“The result wasn’t what we wanted, but the fight was there,” Autry said postgame. “And as a coach, as long as you have the fight, you know that you can improve on some things, and we can improve some things, that’ll give yourself a chance.

“But you gotta have a fight, and if you don’t have a fight, you’ll have no chance.”

While the Orange trailed by as many as 10 points (43-33 with 13:20 remaining), they never let the Tigers pull away and battled to trim their deficit to 63-61 with under a minute left.

Though the fight was on full display, SU couldn’t pull off a last-minute triumph.

As ACC play continues, Autry’s margin for error will continue to shrink. Following the loss to Clemson, Syracuse is ranked No. 80 by KenPom as it tries to snap its four-year March Madness drought.

Come the end of the season, this will be a loss against a likely bubble team that can sting the Orange’s NCAA Tournament hopes and potentially cost Autry his job in a make-or-break year.

Here’s a look at the key moments down the stretch that best define SU’s loss:

Donnie Freeman misses game-tying 3-pointer

Clemson leads 64-61 with nine seconds remaining

It’s a shot Freeman says he’s been shooting since he was 10 years old. And for it to come in a big moment, after everything he’s battled?

“I just wanted that one to drop so bad,” Freeman said.

It instead clanged off the side of the rim. Even with the result, Freeman would’ve shot it again.

“I’m mad that I didn’t make it, but I’m not mad that I shot it,” he said

For Freeman, even being on the court alone is a positive for the Orange. After playing just 14 games as a freshman, the star forward missed SU’s last nine games — where his team went 5-4 after starting 4-0 — before returning against Clemson.

It was a slow start, but Freeman scored 18 points, all in the second half, while shooting 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, leading up to this shot. If Syracuse was somehow going to win this game, it needed to be because of Freeman.

The opportunity was there.

“I set a flat screen for (Naithan) George, popped off, got my feet set. I feel like I rushed a little bit, but I shot it with confidence,” Freeman said. “And if I could do it all over again, I would shoot the exact same shot, same way, same situation, everything, same confidence and it’ll fall next time.”

If there is a next time, George, who had six assists, won’t hesitate to find the same look.

“I thought he was gonna make that one,” the point guard said. “But, you know, that happens, and I’ll take that shot again and again and again, because I know Donnie Freeman, and he makes those shots.”

No more late heroics left…

Donnie Freeman with a chance to tie the game can’t hit pic.twitter.com/0HwOyW7VrL

— Tommy Armstrong (@Tommyarms25) December 31, 2025

Dillon Hunter’s 3s spark Clemson’s offense

Clemson leads 57-50 with 5:08 remaining

In what could’ve been a key turning point, Clemson’s RJ Godfrey — who scored a game-high 14 points — headed to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with just over six minutes remaining. William Kyle III just made two free throws, cutting the Orange’s deficit to 51-47.

A defensive stop and a bucket on the other end could’ve cut it to a one-possession game. Dillon Hunter had a different idea.

As Jestin Porter attacked the lane, all five of SU’s defenders slid to protect the paint. It left Butta Johnson and Nick Davidson open in the corners and Hunter open at the top of the arc. Porter fed Hunter, who drilled a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.

Though Freeman responded with a 3-pointer of his own off a feed from George in the pick-and-roll game, Hunter had one more in him. Though the Orange played great defense, Hunter got a switch with Kyle, isolated against him on the left wing.

With three seconds left on the shot clock, Hunter stepped back before rattling in another triple.

“On the first one, they made a good play, a good kick out three, and knocked it down,” George said. “And then the second one, he just made a play.”

Hunter’s two triples accounted for half of Clemson’s made 3s. The Tigers shot 4-of-16 from beyond the arc, while the Orange were 5-of-15.

Jestin Porter neutralizes Syracuse

Clemson leads 63-57 with 1:48 remaining

Clemson extended its lead to 59-50 following Hunter’s 3-pointers, but Freeman scored the next five points to make it 59-55 with 2:32 remaining. After Freeman made another 3, the Orange tried trapping the Tigers’ inbound play.

J.J. Starling and Freeman double-teamed Hunter in the corner, but he zipped an overhead pass to Johnson, which broke the pressure. Johnson quickly fed a wide-open Porter on the right side of the court near halfcourt.

Porter then glided down the court before making an easy layup. While Freeman proceeded to get to the charity stripe and make two free throws, Porter’s speed again neutralized Syracuse.

On the inbound, Syracuse again pressed Hunter, this time in the left corner, but he broke free by feeding Carter Welling by midcourt. Again, Porter was open on the right side and quickly received the ball from Welling before attacking the basket.

This time, he acrobatically finished over Kyle to give Clemson a six-point lead.

Freeman cuts score to 63-61

Clemson leads 63-61 with 43 seconds remaining

After a George mid-range make and a bizarre sequence where Clemson turned the ball over, Syracuse gave it right back and the Tigers committed a shot clock violation, SU again had an opportunity to cut the score to a one-possession game.

With George and Freeman finding success in the pick-and-roll game, the Orange went back to it. Though instead of Freeman popping out beyond the arc, he cut to the basket with a guard switched onto him.

Helped by Kyle sealing off Welling in the paint, it led to an easy layup once George — the reigning ACC leader in assists while at Georgia Tech last year — fired a perfect pass to him.

Clemson: 63
Syracuse: 61

Adrian Autry and staff dialed up a beauty down by 4 with 45 seconds left.

Donnie Freeman’s been the hot hand in the second half. Get him an easy bucket.

This may look like a simple PNR, but look at William Kyle for Syracuse. He ceiled his man off, so he couldn’t help on the… pic.twitter.com/hELEHVA9wf

— Brandon Meeks (@MeeksKnowsBall) December 31, 2025

All of a sudden, it’s a one-possession game and the Orange need one more stop …

Syracuse’s final defensive possession

Clemson leads 64-61 with 14 seconds remaining

Which it sort of got. After getting burned by getting aggressive with their presses when Porter scored back-to-back buckets, SU was more conservative this time.

The Orange let Clemson get into its half-court offense, while Hunter dribbled the ball just in front of the half-court logo and let the shot clock wind down to eight seconds before trying to make a move. It came after he again got a switch onto Kyle.

Though this time, instead of stepping back, he drove inside. Kyle — one of the best shot blockers in college basketball — met him at the rim and swatted his layup into the courtside seats with 4.3 seconds remaining on the shot clock and 16.4 remaining on the game clock.

Before taking the ball on the baseline for an inbound, Clemson called a timeout. Hunter was then the inbounder out of the break, and he got the ball to Welling, who was freed up by a back screen from Porter that sealed off Kyle. Beyond sealing off Kyle, Porter and Kyle both hit the deck, which caused Nate Kingz to be tripped up.

This left Welling open under the rim, forcing Freeman to rotate down. From behind, Freeman blocked Welling’s close look, but he was called for a shooting foul. Welling then made the first and missed the second, leading to Freeman’s game-tying 3-point attempt that missed.

Published on December 31, 2025 at 7:34 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon