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Fresh off a dominant 85-47 win over Binghamton in its season opener Monday, Syracuse will look to keep its momentum rolling against Delaware State in the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday.

Despite star guard J.J. Starling suffering a lower-body injury versus the Bearcats, the Orange cruised to a wire-to-wire win, holding a double-digit lead for most of the contest. Starling’s status for Saturday is unknown, but head coach Adrian Autry said he’s “fine” postgame.

Though Starling was mostly confined to the bench, Syracuse had five double-digit scorers: Donnie Freeman (20), William Kyle III (16), Kiyan Anthony (15), Naithan George (14) and Tyler Betsey (10). After the win, the Orange are now ranked No. 62 by KenPom and No. 55 by EvanMiya.

SU’s matchup versus the Hornets marks the end of its season-opening two-game homestand before it travels to Philadelphia to face Drexel at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the home of the Philadelphia 76ers. Delaware State enters Saturday ranked No. 353 by KenPom and No. 336 by EvanMiya.

Here’s everything to know before the Orange (1-0, Atlantic Coast) host the Hornets (0-1, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference):

All-time series

This is the first matchup between Syracuse and Delaware State.

KenPom odds

SU has a 99% chance of winning, with a projected score of 90-65.

The Hornets report

Like Syracuse, Delaware State has a new-look roster in 2025. In their season opener, the Hornets rolled out a starting lineup featuring five players who didn’t start multiple games for them last year.

Delaware State finished last year with a 16-14 record, but its four leading scorers — Robert Smith (graduation), Martaz Robinson (graduation), Kaseem Watson (UTEP) and Muneer Newton (Campbell) — are no longer with the program. To help rehaul the roster, the Hornets acquired graduate transfers Zion Bethea (Pepperdine) and Rahmir Moore (Wagner). Additionally, they also netted Ademar Santos from the portal, a Swedish native who spent two seasons playing for Harcum College — a junior college.

In the Hornets’ season-opening 83-65 loss on the road versus Temple, Bethea (20) and Santos (15) were two of their top three scorers. Meanwhile, sophomore Ponce James, who averaged 12.5 minutes and 4.2 points per game last year, poured in 16.

With its revamped roster, Delaware State was picked to finish fifth in the MEAC preseason poll. The Hornets are helmed by Stan Waterman, who is in his fifth year as their head coach. During his tenure, Waterman has accumulated a 39-84 record.

How Syracuse beats Delaware State

The blueprint for SU is the same as it was heading into the Binghamton game: Don’t play down to the Hornets’ level. Undoubtedly, Syracuse is the far superior team, plus it’s playing on its home court.

Simply, all the Orange need to do is play their brand of basketball, which should result in an easy win. That begins with getting the offense going, which they should lean on George to accomplish. In his Syracuse debut, the transfer point guard led the team with eight assists.

With Starling possibly out, SU has even more reason to lean on George early. If George can successfully orchestrate the offense, then Syracuse should look to attack from beyond the arc, a department in which it struggled in the season opener and its exhibition game against Pace.

The most likely way SU would let the Hornets hang around is if it doesn’t play disciplined offense and it misses a lot of 3-pointers. By letting George set the table and attacking the rim, it should help the Orange establish a dominant lead early.

Stat to know: 16

In its season-opening, 18-point loss to Temple, Delaware State only attempted 16 3-pointers. Fourteen of those attempts came via Bethea (seven), Santos (four) and James (three). The Hornets shot an efficient 7-of-16, but only attempting 16 3-pointers in a game they lost by nearly 20 is a sign Waterman’s team isn’t looking to attack from beyond the arc.

For comparison, SU shot an abysmal 4-of-21 in its season opener. Assuming that was nearly as bad as it can get for the Orange, Delaware State will likely need an uptick in 3-point attempts to have any chance of remaining competitive in this game.

Player to watch: Zion Bethea, guard, No. 4

Now in his graduate year, Bethea is playing for his fifth school in as many seasons. The 6-foot-4 guard began his career with Hofstra before embarking on stops with St. Francis Brooklyn, Delaware, Pepperdine and now Delaware State.

In his debut with the Hornets, Bethea dropped 20 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-7 from 3, while notching eight rebounds and an assist.

Published on November 7, 2025 at 5:45 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon