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It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The second four-game losing streak of the season. Just 15 wins heading into the regular season finale. Adrian Autry’s future in question.

But this is Syracuse’s reality. The only way the Orange can snap their four-year NCAA Tournament drought is by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Before heading to Charlotte, SU capped its disappointing regular season against Pittsburgh, searching for its first win in three weeks.

By the time the Orange get to Charlotte, they’ll now be looking to snap their five-game losing streak and win their first game in over three weeks. While Naithan George, Donnie Freeman and Nate Kingz carried SU down the stretch, overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit, it fell short in overtime. The loss marks the Orange’s second straight season going under .500 in regular-season play.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (15-16, 6-12 ACC) 71-69 overtime loss against Pitt (12-19, 5-13 ACC):

Orange fall short in OT

George’s season-best outing continued into overtime, draining a jumper to kick off the scoring, but Nojus Indrusaitis instantly answered with a bucket of his own. Damarco Minor and Freeman traded baskets to tie the score 69-69, but both sides went scoreless for the ensuing two minutes.

The Orange had a chance to score a go-ahead basket with less than 20 seconds remaining, but after a poor possession, Freeman was forced to chuck a turnaround jumper as the shot clock wound down. The attempt missed long, and the Panthers corralled the rebound before dribbling across half court and calling a timeout with 10.2 seconds left.

Out of the break, Indrusaitis was isolated one-on-one with William Kyle III, whom he beat with a first quick step toward the rim. Kyle swatted Indrusaitis’s layup, but the ball was coming down, and it was ruled goaltending with 4.3 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, Syracuse took the ball out of bounds at the far baseline. George received the inbound and attempted a half-court shot, but it was to no avail, sealing the loss.

Syracuse’s late push forces OT

Throughout much of regulation, Syracuse failed to hold a lead — only for 13.8% of the 40 minutes, to be exact. After the Panthers embarked on a 12-0 run, earning a “kill shot,” they took a 45-35 lead with 12:55 remaining.

Facing a 12-point deficit midway, Syracuse didn’t crumble and instead showed some toughness — which hasn’t been apparent for much of the season — and answered with a 10-0 “kill shot” run to get back within two points at the 7:59 mark.

George’s third 3-pointer stopped the bleeding of the Panthers’ 12-0 run before Freeman barraged his way inside to crash the offensive glass and score a second-chance bucket. Following a string of misses, SU cut its deficit to four after George again drew nylon and then got within two after Freeman scored a transition layup off a turnover.

While Indrusaitis halted the run with a 3, two Freeman free throws, and a Tyler Betsey 3-pointer tied the score 52-52 with 6:04 remaining. A 3-pointer and two free throws from Kingz kept the score knotted a minute and a half later. Kingz then drove to the rim for 2 after two Pitt missed free throws, giving SU a 59-57 lead with 3:46 to go.

Though Pitt again tied the score 61-61, with George scoring SU’s next two points from the charity stripe, Kingz again gave it the lead after driving inside for a layup. The Panthers scored the next four points, but two free throws from Freeman tied the score 65-65 with a minute to go.

While Kingz had a clean look for a go-ahead 3, he missed with 14 seconds remaining before Minor missed a potential game-winner as time expired.

J.J.’s finale

When J.J. Starling entered the transfer portal following his freshman season at Notre Dame, Autry called him and asked a simple question — are you ready to come home? The answer was yes, and now, three years later, Starling just played his final home game in the JMA Wireless Dome.

The guard’s zero point, three assist and one rebound stat line across 27 minutes isn’t how he likely wanted to go out, but it’s pretty emblematic of his season. A Preseason Second Team All-ACC selection, Starling didn’t live up to the billing of someone the program built around for his senior year.

Per EvanMiya’s BPR metric, Starling entered Saturday as the Orange’s fifth most valuable player, and his points per game decreased by over six points from the 17.8 he averaged as a junior.

While he began the game with an instant alley-oop assist to Kyle, he had a layup blocked on Syracuse’s ensuing possession. He then took three shots the remainder of the first half. He had a noticeable hitch on a missed 3-pointer and shot from the midrange before missing badly on a runner.

Starling took two quick shots early in the second half, but both attempts clanged off the rim, missing long. After a third miss, Starling was subbed out with 11 minutes remaining and didn’t return until the final four seconds of overtime. His zero-point performance was his first since failing to score against Binghamton in the season opener, in which he played just three minutes due to injury.

Naithan George, Donnie Freeman and Nate Kingz carry SU

While Starling struggled drastically, George stepped up with his best scoring performance of the season. He finished with a season-high 26 points while shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc. His previous season-high was 22 points against Northeastern and Stonehill, while his ACC-high was 19 at Virginia.

Meanwhile, Freeman registered his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. And despite a slow shooting start and foul trouble, Kingz percolated for 14 points, nine of which came in the second half.

As the Orange saw their deficit slip to double digits, George’s 3-point shooting and Freeman’s interior presence sparked the comeback before Kingz’s string of seven straight points gave them their first lead since the opening minutes of the second half.

From the time Betsey’s 3-pointer tied the score 52-52, George, Freeman and Kingz combined to score SU’s final 17 points. But it wasn’t enough to squeak by for a win.

Published on March 7, 2026 at 7:09 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon