Syracuse defeats Florida State 94-86 for 3rd straight win
Syracuse men’s basketball won its third straight game, defeating Florida State 94-86 Tuesday. Zoe Xixis | Asst. Photo Editor
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After slamming home the game-sealing dunk, J.J. Starling looked into the crowd, flexed his muscles and screamed:
“LET’S (BLEEPING) GO.”
Throughout a back-and-forth game, Syracuse (12-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) held on for a 94-86 win over Florida State (7-10, 0-4 Atlantic Coast). After dropping its ACC opener to Clemson, the Orange have now rattled off three straight wins after defeating Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh on the road last week.
As the lead changed hands seven times and the score remained within 10 points the entire night, both teams were stout offensively. The Orange finished the night shooting a season-best 59.7% from the field and making a season-high 11 3-pointers, but FSU matched them by shooting 45.2% from the field, canning 10 triples and making 11 more free throws.
To prevail down the stretch, Donnie Freeman heated up for nine of his 25 points across the final six minutes and change, notching his third straight game with 20 or more points. In four games since returning from a nine-game absence, the sophomore is averaging 20.5 points.
While Freeman’s 25th point came after batting in a second-chance look at the rim to extend SU’s lead to eight with two minutes remaining, FSU quickly cut the deficit down to four.
However, the knockout punch came after Naithan George’s 13th assist on an alley-oop to William Kyle III. The cherry on top was then Starling’s final slam after a defensive stop.
Early on, the first 10 minutes went exactly how Florida State wanted the game to go. The Seminoles entered the JMA Wireless Dome with the 11th-fastest KenPom Adjusted tempo and the third-highest 3PA/FGA percentage in the country. In simple terms, FSU plays really fast and shoots a lot of 3-pointers. For comparison, SU ranked 173rd and 249th in those metrics, respectively.
Trailing 26-24 after the first 10 minutes, the Orange shot 10 3-pointers (setting the tone for 27 attempts), making four to stay afloat while the Seminoles went 5-of-9.
While the game was being played Florida State’s way and the Seminoles led for most of the first half, the Orange took a 37-36 lead with 2:59 remaining. It was their first advantage since the first minute of the game, coming after Tyler Betsey drained his third of six 3-pointers and Starling (15 points) converted an acrobatic layup.
To close the half, 3-point makes from Betsey and Donnie gave SU a 43-40 halftime lead. Syracuse went 7-of-18 from deep, while Florida State was 7-of-14.
As it had for most of the first half, FSU opened the second half playing a 2-3 zone — which first-year head coach Luke Loucks helped implement by studying former SU head coach Jim Boeheim’s famous 2-3 zone, he said on Monday’s ACC Coaches Call.
However, the Seminoles’ zone didn’t yield the results Boeheim typically got in the second half. Freeman began the half with an and-one before the high-flying Kyle III broke the zone with three dunks for SU’s next six points.
While Florida State hung around, trailing 52-47, the Orange saw their lead double to a game-high 10 after Starling got to the rim before George drew nylon from deep in transition. Still, like what happened against Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh, Syracuse couldn’t keep its foot completely on the gas. An 8-0 Florida State run cut the score to 57-55 at the 15:13 mark.
Over the next four minutes, FSU kept its momentum going to take a 65-64 lead. Yet that lead didn’t hold for long.
Though the next points came after Robert McCray extended the Seminoles’ lead to three, the Orange embarked on a 12-2 run to give them a 76-69 lead with 7:57 remaining. SU mostly found success going to the rim, especially via Sadiq White Jr.
The freshman scored a half a dozen points all at the rim and off turnovers — both teams had 14 turnovers. Betsey also stayed hot from deep during the run, knocking down his sixth 3 to regain SU the lead.
Fittingly, the Seminoles scored the next five points, but Nate Kingz buried a corner 3 in transition to push the Orange’s advantage to 79-73 with just over seven minutes remaining. The triple was SU’s 11th made 3, topping its season high in made triples after making 10 against Pitt Saturday.
The make helped Syracuse keep its lead at multiple possessions down the stretch, as the squads mostly traded points over the next five minutes. The Orange held an 88-82 lead with two minutes remaining.
From there, Syracuse took care of business, securing a third straight win.
