Syracuse men’s basketball survives scare from Saint Joseph’s

Syracuse men’s basketball has had its hands full with power five opponents as of late. The Orange lost to three premier programs in Las Vegas during feast week before beating then No. 13 Tennessee back on Dec. 2. 

After a nine day break, SU started it’s five-game homestand against mid-major opponents with a matchup against Saint Joseph’s. On a night when the Orange were far from their best, Adrian Autry’s team found a way to get it done, defeating the Hawks 71-63 in the JMA Wireless Dome. 

Syracuse looked a bit rusty during its first minutes of basketball in over a week. Eight minutes into the game, the Orange were shooting just 2-10 from the field.

Soon after, Tyler Betsey came off the bench and scored eight points in less than two and half minutes to help Syracuse go on a 10-0 scoring run. Plus, the Cincinnati transfer put in work on the defensive side of the ball, much to the approval of his head coach. 

“Tyler Betsey is probably one of the more improved defenders. You know, that wasn’t really his reputation coming out of high school,” head coach Adrian Autry said after the game. “He’s made tremendous strides.”

Betsey was countered by Saint Joseph’s Deuce Jones, who scored 12 first half points to keep the game close. At the half, the Hawks trailed the Orange by just four points, 34-30, and Jones was the game’s only scorer in double figures. 

Coming out of the half, Dasear Haskins led a Saint Joseph’s scoring run that tied the game. That was until Betsey hit his third three pointer of the night to give the Orange the lead back. 

Yet still, the Hawks hung around. A big reason for that: rebounding. Saint Joseph’s outrebounded Syracuse 44-34 on the night, pulling down 14 boards on the offensive glass. 

“Our guards gotta do a better job of rebounding,” Autry said. “Nait George, he needs to get some rebounds. Kiyan has to do a better job in there, Sadiq.”

Another spot where the Orange struggled was at the free throw line, which has been a season long theme so far. Coming into the game, SU ranked second to last in the entire nation in free throw shooting percentage. Ironically, the Hawks entered the dome with the highest free throw shooting percentage in the nation. And while Saint Joes shot 67% from the charity stripe Thursday night, well below their season average, Syracuse shot an even worse 54%. 

“These guys shoot the ball a lot better than we’re doing right now,” Autry said. “We’ll get better at that.”

Despite the struggles, Syracuse fought its way to the finish line. Nate Kingz and Betsey led the way, combining for 30 points and six triples.

“They [Kingz and Betsey] can shoot the ball on the offensive end,” Autry said. “and they’re actually doing a good job of getting to the basket.”

Despite 18 points from Deuce Jones and a full-hearted team effort, Saint Joseph’s didn’t have quite enough gas in the tank to pull out its third win in six days. The Orange came out victorious, 71-63, securing their fourth all time victory over the Hawks. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough to get the job done. 

“I thought we had spurts today, and then we kind of kicked ourselves in the foot, whether it was an unexplained turnover or a bad decision offensively,” Autry said. 

The Orange won’t have much time to process Thursday’s win, as Hofstra comes to the Dome less than 48 hours later. The Pride have won five out of their last six games, including an ACC victory on the road at Pittsburgh.

Autry’s team will have a chance to win its third game in a row when it returns to action at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday against Hofstra.