Controversial no-call caps Syracuse’s worst loss of the season in 70-69 upset by Hofstra

Syracuse suffered its most damaging loss of the season Saturday night as a controversial no-call on Kiyan Anthony’s potential go-ahead drive in the final seconds sealed a 70-69 upset by Hofstra at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse fell to 6-4, dealing a blow to its NCAA tournament hopes and leaving little margin for error moving forward.

The ending was chaotic.

After the Orange erased a 10-point deficit with 4:34 remaining on an 11-0 run, Hofstra answered with a corner 3-pointer from German Plotnikov to take a two-point lead with 34 seconds left.

Freshman Sadiq White Jr. split a pair of free throws to pull Syracuse within one with 18 seconds remaining.

With Hofstra inbounding under its own basket, the Pride appeared to throw the ball away, but officials ruled the ball had touched senior guard JJ Starling. The call was upheld after Syracuse’s challenge, though Starling disputed the decision after the game.

Hofstra then committed a five-second violation on the ensuing inbound play, giving Syracuse another opportunity with 15 seconds left.

With a chance for a go-ahead basket in the final seconds, Anthony attacked the rim but lost the ball inside. Anthony — and the announced crowd of more than 13,000 — believed a foul was missed.

Hofstra held on for the one-point win as boos drowned out the final buzzer.

“I felt my hand being grabbed off the ball. It was a clear foul,” Anthony said. “If you ask 1,000 people if that’s a foul, I think they will say that’s a foul.”

Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry declined to comment directly on the officiating, instead stressing accountability.

“I wish I could answer that question, but I’m not,” Autry said. “I want to take accountability for some of the things we could have controlled — the things we should have controlled. That’s on me. It’s part of the game.”

The loss capped a frustrating night for the Orange, who failed to put Hofstra away despite leading by seven with under 17 minutes to play. Free throws again proved costly, as Syracuse went 9 of 16 from the line.

Starling led the Orange with a season-high 15 points, while Anthony finished with 12.

“We put ourselves in that position. You can’t rely on the refs,” Starling said. “It comes down to doing what you need to do as a team, and we didn’t do that.”

Starling scored 12 of Syracuse’s first 15 points but was limited to two points in the second half. Syracuse’s offense went scoreless in the final 2:27 minutes.

“We just have to attack. We played timid,” Starling said. “That’s why we fell into that dry spell. We fell right into their trap and couldn’t get out.”

The Orange struggled against Hofstra’s zone defense, which the Pride leaned on more heavily in the second half.

“We practice zone every day,” Anthony said. “For us to come out here and not execute against the zone, that should definitely be a shame on ourselves.”

Senior William Kyle III had another strong showing with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks, while White finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Junior guard Naithan George was held scoreless, going 0 of 4 from the field, and not playing the final 7:41.

“I’m not worried about Nait,” Autry said. “He’ll get it together. I just went with JJ and Kiyan…. I thought they had a better flow of the game.”

Hofstra was led by Cruz Davis, who scored a game-high 22 points and added nine assists.

Autry said his biggest concern after the game was his team’s lack of attention to detail.

“We didn’t pay attention to the guys that we knew could make shots,” he said.

The Pride finished 12 of 18 from beyond the arc. Syracuse shot 8 of 23 from deep.

“They strung our defense out and then made the right read every time,” Starling said. “When you have open looks throughout the game, your confidence goes up as a team.”

Anthony pointed to slow starts as a recurring issue.

“St. Joe’s, we came out flat. The excuse after that was nine days off,” Anthony said. “Then today we came out flat again. We’re looking at halftime and we’re up by one, and it’s like, no — we’ve got to put them away.”

Despite the loss, Autry reiterated his belief in the team.

“We are a good team, and we will be a good team,” Autry said.

The Orange have three non-conference games remaining before opening ACC play against Clemson on New Year’s Eve. They return to action on Wednesday when they host Mercyhurst at the Dome.