Observations from Syracuse’s loss vs. Kansas: Late collapse, offense struggles
in Syracuse's 11-point loss to Kansas Tuesday, freshman Kiyan Anthony scored just six points, the lowest in a game thus far in his college career. Courtesy of Joseph Alleyne | @joeyyarchives on Instagram
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LAS VEGAS — Fresh off a heartbreaking overtime loss to No. 3 Houston, Syracuse didn’t have much time to dwell as it faced Kansas on Tuesday in Day 2 of the Players Era Festival. Playing in the 18-team Las Vegas tournament presents the Orange with a perfect time to reintroduce themselves to the college basketball world, and they nearly did so Monday against the Cougars.
Like it was against Houston, SU was again without leading scorer Donnie Freeman, who was ruled out for the Players Era with a lower-body injury. Kansas was also without its leading scorer, as freshman phenom Darryn Peterson has missed its last four games and was ruled out for the Players Era with a right wrist injury.
Even without Peterson, the Jayhawks controlled the game, only trailing briefly in the first few minutes. Though SU cut Kansas’ once 13-point lead to two in the second half, it couldn’t complete the comeback, dropping its second consecutive game in the Players Era Festival.
Here are observations from Syracuse’s (4-2, Atlantic Coast) 71-60 loss versus Kansas (5-2, Big 12):
Late game collapse
After Tyler Betsey drained a 3-pointer to cut SU’s deficit to 52-50, it felt like the Orange were finally going to climb the mountain and take their first lead since the first three minutes of the game. Instead, Kansas went on an 11-0 run, pushing its advantage back to double digits with under three minutes remaining.
After being held scoreless for nearly 20 minutes, Flory Bidunga scored inside to push the Jayhawks’ lead to 54-50 with 5:33 remaining. From there, guard Tre White took over, scoring the next six points — three coming on an and-one, and the other three coming from the charity stripe after he got Nate Kingz to leave his feet early beyond the arc — to push the advantage to 60-50 just over a minute and a half later.
William Kyle III had a chance to end the drought after he was fouled for a one-and-one, but he airballed his free throw, giving Kansas possession. Melvin Council Jr. got to the line and split his free throws before adding another two points in transition off a Naithan George 3-point miss.
Betsey ended the drought with another triple, cutting the score to 63-53 with 2:43 remaining. However, it couldn’t spark another Syracuse run.
Both teams’ top scorers are out. How did they respond?
With Peterson, a projected top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, out, Bidunga has emerged as the Jayhawks’ go-to option. After averaging just 5.9 points as a freshman last year, the 6-foot-10 big man averaged 16.7 points entering Tuesday before scoring 13 against the Orange.
Kansas fed Bidunga in the paint early, as he scored its first seven points, including a free throw from an and-one, to give it an early 7-5 lead. A few minutes later, SU big Akir Souare left Bigunga open near the free throw line, and he canned the mid-ranger jumper to boost the Jayhawks’ lead to 14-8 just over six minutes into the game.
Bidunga made his first four shots and scored a quick 11 points, but he was held scoreless for the rest of the half after draining two free throws at the 13:05 mark. However, Bigunga’s early explosion allowed Kansas’ offense to open up around him, with Bryson Tiller adding eight first-half points (he finished with 11) while the Jayhawks shot 48.3% from the field.
The Orange, meanwhile, missed Freeman. They greatly lacked an offensive identity early on, which contributed to Betsey leading it with eight field goal attempts (shooting 1-of-7 from 3) in the first half. SU entered the locker room trailing 34-25 while shooting 31.0% from the field.
Well into the second half, Syracuse still looked sloppy offensively. Kiyan Anthony, who starred in the first three games of the season, notched his worst performance of his collegiate career, scoring six points while shooting 2-of-12 from the floor.
SU’s first player to enter double digits was Betsey with 2:43 remaining. Though Bidunga and Tiller struggled in the second half, White stepped up to finish the game with 15 points. Council Jr. also added 14 points.
The Orange finished at 31.7% from the field, while the Jayhawks shot 44.4%.
J.J. Starling still quiet
Syracuse lived and died by J.J. Starling last season. The guard led the Orange with 17.8 points per game, and in games when he was held under 16 points or was out, they posted a 6-15 record.
Thus far, SU hasn’t really heavily relied on Starling, a preseason Second-Team ACC selection. Within the first three minutes of the season, he sustained a lower-body injury, which held him out for the remainder of the season-opener and the ensuing two games.
Starling scored 11 points against Monmouth and Houston but averaged just seven field goals per game. For comparison, he attempted 16.0 field goals per game last year.
Against the Jayhawks, it took Starling nearly 20 minutes to score when he drained a corner 3 just before the half wound down. The guard had missed his first four shots, which mostly came driving to the rim. He did score his first point from the free throw line after attacking the lane and drawing a foul, but he split his attempts.
Like the first half, Starling didn’t get into a groove in the second half. He missed his first two attempts — both from the mid-range — before scoring his first points after splitting a pair of free throws. His next two shots were 3s, missing the first, but a beyond-the-arc snipe pulled the Orange within five with 7:32 to play.
With the Orange down 54-50, Starling rose up from the midrange, trying to cut the score to two but missed. He then fouled White on the other end, leading to an and-one. Starling got himself into double figures in the final minute, but he finished Tuesday with 10 points while shooting 3-of-12 from the floor.
3s, free throws
Syracuse’s 3-point and free-throw usage defined its loss to the Cougars. The Orange attempted a season-high 31 3-pointers, making just eight. And, of course, they shot an abysmal 12-of-29 from the charity stripe.
Against Kansas, Nate Kingz showed an early glimpse that at least one of those problems would go away by draining a 3-pointer for the game’s first points. However, it didn’t snap SU’s outside shooting slump, as it finished 7-of-30 from beyond the arc.
Kingz, one of the best shooters in the country last season at Oregon State, entered Tuesday shooting 23.1% from 3. Despite the early bucket, he proceeded to miss his only other four attempts.
Meanwhile, Betsey was forced into a few desperate heaves, which in part contributed to him shooting 4-of-10 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Anthony was 0-of-6 while Starling was 2-of-6.
Syracuse improved from the charity stripe but was still awful. The Orange shot 13-of-23, with the highlights — or, really, the lowlights — Kyle airballing free throws in the first and second halves.
The cherry on top was Kansas fans loudly cheering when Kyle made a free throw seconds before the final buzzer sounded, and Syracuse was again a loser.
