Adrian Autry calls out Syracuse’s ball movement after loss to No. 14 UNC
Adrian Autry called out SU’s ball movement after its 10-point loss to No. 14 UNC. Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Contrary to prior belief, there might be a problem with Syracuse’s offense.
Following a 10-point loss to North Carolina, Adrian Autry called out his team’s ball movement, poor screening and players standing up without the ball.
“We have a lot of guys that like to play with the ball in their hands, and we have to do a better job of moving without the ball,” Autry said. “You can’t do that in today’s game.”
“We got to be able to make quicker decisions, quicker decisions. And we just didn’t do that,” Autry added.
Syracuse (13-10, 4-6 Atlantic Coast) tied a season-low with seven assists in its 87-77 loss against No. 14 North Carolina (18-4, 6-3 Atlantic Coast). It comes one game after the Orange notched 21 assists in a win over Notre Dame, but that appears more like lightning in a bottle than improved ball movement.
Ball movement — SU ranks 294th in assist percentage — has been a problem for Autry’s squad all season. But that makes sense when your highest scorer (Donnie Freeman) primarily scores with the ball in his hands, your second leading scorer (J.J. Starling) also primarily scores with the ball in his hands and your main distributor (Naithan George) also needs the ball in his hands to set his teammates up.
Autry emphasized postgame that you need guys who can score, but he added the Orange were trying to get their players to understand that they have to make decisions quicker and move without the ball.
“We’ve had moments where we’ve done that, but we haven’t done it consistently,” Autry said. “So that’s where the frustration comes in, offensively, is that we got to get those guys that can score to be able to make better decisions, and we got to be able to get them the ball in better situations as well to make quicker decisions.”
Freeman scored a game-high 23 points on an efficient 8-of-14 shooting from the field, but just two of his makes came off assists. The sophomore forward described Syracuse’s offense as “stagnant” today and “streaky” as a whole.
“Sometimes we got some pop, sometimes not,” Freeman said.
When there isn’t pop, Nate Kingz feels it’s hard for him and Tyler Betsey — the Orange’s two best 3-point shooters — to get shots.
Syracuse tied a season-low with seven assists in its loss to No. 14 North Carolina Monday. Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer
Betsey, who shoots over 40% from beyond the arc, went 0-of-1 from deep against UNC. Meanwhile, Kingz — coming off a career-high 28 points while draining a tied-for-season-high five 3s — was held to three attempts. Two of those, which he made, came in the final two minutes when Syracuse was in desperation mode.
“It’s a lot harder, for sure,” Kingz said of he and Betsey getting looks when SU’s ball movement struggles.
The Orange trailed by 32 points with about 10 minutes remaining, but chipped away to cut their deficit down to six with 42 seconds to play. Autry said SU opened the floor and let their guards make plays, which he attributed to the late-game success.
However, the third-year head coach said, “You can’t really do that the whole game.” He felt at that particular moment, though, that it was the best way to mount a comeback. The Orange recorded five of their seven assists throughout the night in the final eight minutes.
Going forward, Kiyan Anthony — another ball-dominant player, who leads Syracuse’s reserves in scoring — said the Orange have to do a better job getting Freeman touches in the post, allowing Starling (who had 13 points shooting 5-of-13 from the floor) to get downhill and getting looks for complementary players.
The JJ Starling Experience. Shot selection something like a 0.5/10 pic.twitter.com/5ZbuIhMpiZ
— Jim Root (@2ndChancePoints) February 3, 2026
Anthony feels that doesn’t necessarily mean the coaching staff calling plays one way or another, but he and his teammates executing.
Whatever the answer may be, time is running out. Just eight games remain on the Orange’s schedule, and as losses keep piling up, the only thing that can help them is wins. The assist numbers suggest that 15 or more assists typically result in a victory.
But even if improved ball movement results in wins down the stretch, it might not matter because of how much SU’s already deteriorated whatever remains of its NCAA Tournament resume.
