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What just happened?

In a game between Syracuse and SMU that the latter mostly controlled, Nate Kingz didn’t care. With 2.3 seconds left on the clock, the Oregon State transfer guard banked in a driving layup that gave the Orange a one-point lead over the Mustangs, completing a 12-point comeback. All they needed was one more stop, and they got it, as SMU’s half court prayer was to no avail.

Somehow, despite being outrebounded 41-35 and allowing a whopping 44 points in the paint, Adrian Autry’s Syracuse squad snagged its second consecutive Quad 2 victory, downing the Mustangs in the final moments. Donnie Freeman’s team-high 18 points provided a spark, but the Orange’s clutch factor carried them in this one.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (15-11, 6-7 Atlantic Coast) 79-78 win over SMU (17-8, 6-6 ACC) Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome:

Kiyan makes his mark

Kiyan Anthony is a constant topic of discussion, being the son of SU legend and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony. And Syracuse’s contest with SMU marked the second game since Kiyan didn’t log a single minute against Virginia on Feb. 7.

In the freshman’s first game back from the benching, SU’s win over Cal, Kiyan registered 14 minutes but took just one shot. He scored two points off a pair of free throws. Other than that, Kiyan played a handful of empty minutes.

Not versus the Mustangs.

Kiyan logged 24 minutes Saturday and dropped 13 crucial points on 5-for-10 shooting. All of his points came in the second half, including a tough layup through contact and an energizing 3-pointer from the left wing that brought Syracuse within five points of SMU.

In his first stint off the bench, midway through the first half, Kiyan played eight minutes and rarely had the ball. When Kiyan was on the floor in that stretch, Naithan George didn’t spend much time out there with him, leaving the Orange without a true facilitator.

But his role became clearer down the stretch: Kiyan was going to get his team a bucket when needed. The play that defined Kiyan’s day came with less than 6:00 to go when he completed a massive three-point play to give SU a 72-71 lead — its first advantage since the opening four minutes.

For the well-known freshman, moments like that will only grow his notoriety.

Syracuse gets sized up

The Mustangs’ 7-foot-2 Turkish center, Samet Yigitoglu, resembled a skyscraper pitted against an Orange roster that has no rotational players who stand above 6-foot-9. From the opening tip, which Yigitoglu won over SU center William Kyle III, it was clear SMU wanted the ball in its big man’s hands early and often.

Yigitoglu cashed in on a pair of short turnaround jumpers for two of the game’s first buckets. Kyle and Freeman, Syracuse’s forward tandem who normally holds their own against any frontcourt matchup, were jumping for joy to try and thwart simple looks from Yigitoglu.

On one play midway through the first half, SMU guard BJ Edwards threw a pass into heavy traffic, with four defenders standing around Yigitoglu in a semi-circle. Yigitoglu grabbed the pass, took one dribble and made a difficult jump-hook for his seventh and eighth points of the day. Despite a legion of Orange jerseys around him, they couldn’t contest his shot.

That’s how it looked for Syracuse most of the afternoon. The Orange got outrebounded by six and allowed 18 more points in the paint than the amount they scored.

Some of the attention toward Yigitoglu down low opened up opportunities for others to crash the boards. Mustangs forward Corey Washington finished with nine rebounds and Edwards, a 6-foot-3 guard, hauled in six.

Yigitoglu, who entered Saturday averaging 10.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, finished with 11 points and four boards. It didn’t help that the Orange didn’t have their typical backup center Akir Souare, who was out with back spasms, to help SU’s chances down low.

Crucial run to end 1st half

The Orange’s best stretch of ball all afternoon came to close the first half. After falling behind 37-27 with 4:00 left before halftime, they embarked on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, which helped salvage a manageable 39-35 deficit at the break.

If this run didn’t occur, it’s more than possible Syracuse would’ve been demolished wire-to-wire Saturday.

Before every home game, a video comes on the Dome Jumbotron that shows Autry telling fans they need to be loud on every defensive possession — because, as Autry says, it’s a goal of SU’s to generate three stops in a row. Three straight defensive stops would increase the Orange’s chances of going on a run to take command of any given game. It happened Saturday.

SU got three stops in a row — drawing an SMU offensive foul, contesting a Boopie Miller jumper that went awry and inducing a missed layup from Jaden Toombs inside. In turn, it kept scoring, highlighted by a mid-range jumper from Freeman and driving layup from George.

Two straight free-throw makes from Kyle, a rare sighting, completed Syracuse’s run and gave it a clear-cut opportunity to keep building momentum in the second half.

SU quiets Miller’s scoring, but not his passing

Miller is one of the ACC’s, and the country’s, most-lethal point guards. He entered Saturday averaging 19.2 points and 6.8 assists per game (tied for 12th in the nation). Yet, he didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 18:17 mark of the second half, draining a corner 3 in Kingz’s face.

The Orange made Miller a non-threat in the first half. He didn’t score a point in the first 20 minutes and ended with just 11 overall. However, Miller made an impact with his elite facilitating skills, racking up a game-best seven assists to steady the Mustangs’ offense.

Kingz, George and J.J. Starling all guarded Miller well from a scoring perspective as he shot 3-for-11 from the field. They struggled to stop his shifty footwork and Eagle-eye court vision, oftentimes drawing guys open through pump-fakes and no-look feeds.

After totaling four first-half assists, Miller tallied two more to begin the second: one to Edwards on a second-chance opportunity and another to Jaron Pierre Jr. for a fast break lay-in. The latter of which put SMU ahead 51-41.

Free-throw efficiency?

Of all the things for Syracuse to do well on Saturday, few would expect the answer to be free throws. Well, the Orange consistently hit their free throws against SMU, converting 14-of-18 attempts from the charity stripe.

The early portion of the game featured Syracuse finding a ton of offense at the free-throw line. Of its first 14 points, seven of them came on free throws. SMU kept fouling the Orange on drives, particularly Freeman and George. Freeman tallied 10 free throw attempts and buried seven of them, while George went 4-for-4.

The lack of misses from the line directly contributed to Syracuse’s late comeback surge. Most games, the Orange had already made too many little mistakes to even have a fighter’s chance in crunch time, but that wasn’t the case against SMU.

Published on February 14, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Contact Cooper: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews