Syracuse 62, No. 13 Tennessee 60: Orange save non-conference with marquee win

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange basketball team salvaged its non-conference schedule – and maybe even its season – with a quadrant one victory over the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers. Syracuse escaped with a 62-60 win over Tennessee in the annual ACC/SEC Challenge.

Nate Kingz led the way with 19 points, all in the first half. Starling finished with a dozen points including two clutch buckets down the stretch. Sadiq White had 10 points and 9 rebound while Will Kyle had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocks. Jaylen Carey led the way for Tennessee with 22 points and 9 rebounds.

Syracuse was without Donnie Freeman for the fourth straight game due to a right leg injury. The Orange were also without Bryce Zephir, who was in the building but did not warm up with the team. Tennessee was without JP Estrella with an ankle sprain.

Syracuse jumped out to a 5-3 at the first media timeout. Nate Ament picked up a quick foul and Rick Barnes elected to sit him right away. Sadiq White picked up two quick fouls and Adrian Autry returned him to the bench for Tyler Betsey. Kiyan Anthony and Akir Souare checked in to round out the first half rotation. With George taking a blow, Anthony and Starling took turns handling point guard responsibilities.

Nate Kingz got off to a good start for Syracuse, converting on a three on a skip pass from Starling. He had a strong finish to beat the shotclock to boot. He had seven early points to pace the Orange.

Tennessee took a 16-15 lead at the under eight minute media timeout. Jaylen Carey bullied Syracuse down low for an early ten points. He was the first Vols player in double-figures. Kingz continued to steady the Orange on the other end, entering double-figures with eight minutes left in the first half.

It was back-and-forth with both teams trading leads throughout the first. Kingz buried a stepback three to give Syracuse a 25-23 lead by the final media timeout of the first half. Amaree Abram buried a three for Tennessee to give the lead back.

Tennessee ran into foul trouble in the first half. Nate Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Bishop Boswell Boswell and Carey all went to the bench with two first half fouls.

After securing a missed three on the last possession of the half, Betsey calmly laid the ball in before the buzzer to give Syracuse a 32-30 lead. Kingz led all scorers at the break with 19. Carey had ten for the Vols. Syracuse had a 10-2 points off turnovers advantage while Tennessee’s bench outscored Syracuse’s 16-4.

Out of the half, Syracuse had a strong stretch of play starting with Starling converting on a transition dunk after a steal. On the ensuing play, White threw down a raucous slam off a no-look alley-oop feed from George. Then, Kyle followed that with an emphatic swat on Okpara.

Not to be outdone by the media timeout, Starling joined in on the no-look lob fun, this time to Kyle who promptly threw it down. Somehow – on the other end – Kyle followed that up with yet another rejection at the rim. Syracuse led 34-42.

Threes found the bottom of the net for White and Anthony but the Orange couldn’t push the lead to double-digits. Outside of Kyle’s helpside rejections, Syracuse had no answer for Carey on the defensive end. He continued his offensive onslaught with Syracuse holding a 50-43 with 11:34 to play.

While Starling played in the game with three fouls, Betsey would pick up his third foul and head to the bench in favor of White. Carey continued to keep things close as Tennessee cut the lead to 50-49 with 9:33 to play. Gillespie gave Tennessee the lead back with a layup. Anthony made a pair of free throws to take the lead back. A Starling steal and score pushed the lead to three.

Barnes’ boys wouldn’t volunteer to the exits. A corner three from Ament pushed the Vols back in front 56-55 with four minutes to play. White seemingly gave the lead back after a goaltend call, but Tennessee challenged and won the call. The ball went to the possession arrow, pointing to Tennessee.

From there Starling took over. He buried a big-time three to put Syracuse up two. Then a mid-range found the bottom of the net to give Syracuse a 60-56 lead. Buckets by Carey and Boswell would tie the game at 50 with 38 second left. Autry called timeout with 31 ticks left.

Doubled on a ball screen, Starling whipped a pass into Kyle on the roll, who was fouled with 13.8 seconds left. Autry paced the sidelines and could hardly watch.

Kyle split a pair to give Syracuse a 61-60 lead. Tennessee got the ball over halfcourt and called time with 9.6 seconds left.

Barnes went with Carey down low, who missed as White secured the rebound. He split a pair with under a second left. Tennessee had one last look with .4 seconds but missed and the student rushed the court as Syracuse earned its first ranked win in two seasons.

Next up

Syracuse has nine days between games as the Orange take on St. Joe’s next Thursday. That game tips at 9 p.m. ET from the JMA Wireless Dome and airs on the ACC Network.