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Adrian Autry said Syracuse was a “good team” three times and that the Orange “will be a good team” an additional three times postgame.

The scoreboard in the JMA Wireless Dome told a different story.

Syracuse (6-4, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) was upset by Hofstra (8-4, 0-0 Coastal) 70-69 at home. In a season in which Autry’s job could hinge on whether SU snaps its longest NCAA Tournament drought in over five decades, it’s indefensible to lose home games against inferior nonconference opponents. That’s exactly what happened Saturday.

“It’s unacceptable for Syracuse,” William Kyle III said postgame. “It’s unacceptable for everybody on the team. It’s unacceptable for me — I got to do more as well. We just gotta be a lot better, a lot better.”

The Orange trailed 67-57 with 4:34 remaining, but they erased the deficit to take a 68-67 lead with 56 seconds left. However, after a defensive lapse, the Pride took a two-point lead once German Plotnikov nailed their 12th 3-pointer — the most SU has allowed in a game this season.

Freshman Sadiq White Jr. then drew a foul after driving to the rim, but he split his attempts from the charity stripe — continuing the Orange’s free-throw shooting woes — to cut the Orange’s deficit to one with 18 seconds remaining. While Syracuse forced a Hofstra turnover, Kiyan Anthony’s potentially game-winning tear-drop shot missed the mark, and the Pride corralled the rebound.

It was one of several questionable calls — which Autry said he wished he could answer a question about postgame, though instead said “it’s part of the game” — throughout the evening, as Biggie Patterson appeared to foul Anthony on his drive. But, it wasn’t called.

Victory Onuetu (@_thereal1ne) blocks Kiyan Anthony to seal a 70-69 Hostra upset over Syracuse infront of Carmelo pic.twitter.com/tlnJVKYDSG

— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) December 13, 2025

“That last play, I feel like that’s clearly on the refs,” Anthony said.

Even if the Orange got screwed by the refs, it’s a position they never should’ve been in. Hofstra entered Saturday ranked as KenPom’s No. 119 team and was selected to finish eighth in the CAA’s Preseason Poll. Meanwhile, Syracuse was ranked No. 67 by KenPom.

For a team that defeated No. 20 Tennessee and brought No. 7 Houston and No. 19 Kansas down to the wire on a neutral court, it should be an expectation to win home games against inferior nonconference foes. Nowadays, because they’re metrics the NCAA Tournament selection committee reviews, another caveat is formidable-sized wins improve NET Ranking and KenPom rankings.

Despite a missed opportunity to win a Quad 1 game during the Players Era Festival, downing the Volunteers gave SU its first premier win to start building a March Madness resume. The next step for the Orange was to handle business — ideally with wide scoring margins — across their five home nonconference games before beginning ACC play versus Clemson on Dec. 31.

That began with Syracuse narrowly avoiding Saint Joseph’s upset bid. The Orange dropped from No. 62 to No. 67 on KenPom’s rankings despite the win.

While not ideal, SU avoided what it couldn’t afford in games like these — losing. The “excuse,” as Anthony said Saturday, was that Syracuse had nine days between games. There were no excuses after losing to Hofstra.

“This loss definitely put a dent in the Syracuse men’s program, but I feel like it’s always a chance to bounce back,” Anthony said. “We’re not even halfway through the season, so we still have a lot of games, a lot of big games we can win, and we’ve proven that we can compete with these big teams.”

The loss dropped Syracuse to No. 75 on KenPom. Typically, NCAA Tournament teams that receive at-large bids are ranked around the top 40.

Kyle emphasized the Orange can’t “just show up” for games. Anthony added they aren’t a team that’s solidified to “walk on the court and just blow everybody out.” Tyler Betsey said Syracuse’s mindset going forward should be that every game is a “big game,” because they’re playing.

It also hurt SU that the best player on the court was Hofstra’s Cruz Davis. If Donnie Freeman were healthy, that might not have been the case. But the forward missed his seventh game with a lower-body injury.

Davis scored a game-high 22 points while dishing out nine assists.

“He’s a big-time player,” Autry said postgame.

The same couldn’t be said for any of the Orange’s players — at least not Saturday, even though they have one on their roster. Freeman, per EvanMiya’s BPR metric, is one of the top three percent players in the country.

Even with him out, Syracuse is built to win. Starling was named a Preseason Second Team All-ACC selection after averaging 17.8 points per game last season. Naithan George was one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal. Kyle is arguably the most athletic center in college basketball. Nate Kingz is one of the best shooters in the country. White and Anthony were two of the highest-rated high school prospects in their class.

Yet, as the case has typically been with Freeman sidelined, nobody stepped up. It looked like Starling would when he percolated for 13 first-half points, but he scored just two points in the second half. George, who played a season-low 22 minutes, was a non-factor.

Known for doing the little things, Kyle delivered exactly what Syracuse needed, scoring 13 points and swatting four shots. Kingz, too, lived up to his billing, knocking four 4 3-pointers, but a face injury late in the game held him out for the final 98 seconds.

Though Anthony and White each scored 12 points, they combined for five of Syracuse’s nine turnovers. Meanwhile, a White technical foul resulted in a crucial five-point swing. The Orange had just extended their lead to 45-38 four minutes into the second half, their largest lead of the game, after Kyle connected with White for an alley-oop.

After the play, however, White was called for a technical foul. Davis then made two free throws before drilling a 3-pointer. Postgame, Autry said that “definitely shifted the momentum a little bit.”

Like that play in a micro sense, Syracuse’s loss to Hofstra shifted its season in a macro sense. Avoiding bad losses only helps a team make March Madness. Entering Saturday undefeated across its five nonconference games versus mid-major opponents, SU was unscathed. Now, the Orange have a glaringly bad loss.

“We will learn from this. I promise you that we’ll learn from this and get better,” Autry said postgame.

But the clock is ticking for Autry. With how it’s fared 10 games into the season, Syracuse isn’t even close to a bubble team.

If that sentiment remains true by season’s end, significant changes could be coming. And losing at home to Hofstra will play a role in why.

Published on December 13, 2025 at 9:37 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon