BUFFALO, N.Y. — On the shores of Lake Ontario, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball season tipped off with an exhibition win over Buffalo, 76-66. In front of a solid lower bowl crowd at the KeyBank Center, the new-look Orange jumped out to an early lead with outside shooting and held it the rest of the way.
The first two made baskets for Syracuse were threes by JJ Starling and a catch-and-shoot off a flare screen on the right wing for Nate Kingz. Later in the first half, Tyler Betsey checked in and made back-to-back threes, along with a mid-range jumper from the elbow.
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Betsey and Kiyan Anthony were the first two subs into the game for the Orange, and Anthony made his presence felt immediately. Following a large ovation, Anthony blocked a driving attempt by Buffalo guard Derrick Talton, and then dropped in a classic stepback jumper from 14 feet that could remind Syracuse fans of his father’s scoring ability.
“It makes me feel great to konw that the fanbase is behind me,” Anthony said. “I’m looking forward to going back to the Dome and playing a scrimmage game at home. It just felt good to go out there knowing that the fans love me and I love the fans back, and to give them the show that is Syracuse University basketball, and ultimately come up with the win.”
Anthony finished with 10 points, but also experienced some jitters, turning it over three times in the first half.
Leading by nine halfway through the first half, Donnie Freeman poked the ball loose on a hedge, and Naithan George picked it up, turned the other way, and lofted an alley-oop pass to Freeman. After catching just one lob for a dunk all of last season, Freeman matched that total in his exhibition, forcing a Buffalo timeout at 27-16.
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“I told you it was gonna be more lobs with Nait George,” Freeman said. “It felt good to catch one, especially to be back from injury, especially that being my first point, it was a good feeling.”
It wouldn’t be the only lob that George threw, as he found William Kyle in transition for a two-handed flush early in the second half.
“I feel like we just have high flyers that could go get it,” George said. “So me just throwing it to them just kind of brings that energy for us.”
George also knocked down a three in the first half and got to the foul line a bunch, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists for a well-rounded box score.
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Syracuse went into halftime ahead 39-27, playing 11 of 12 available scholarship players — Sadiq White is out with an upper body injury. The Orange pushed that lead out to 18 early in the second half, and again once Anthony made a few threes in the middle of the half, but the Bulls surged back.
Ryan Sabol made a few drives to the basket, and after a triple by Ezra McKenna, Buffalo was only down by nine, and held the momentum. Then, the Orange started trading twos for Bulls threes, and McKenna cut the lead down to 70-66, forcing an Orange timeout in the final two minutes.
“They made a couple of tough shots,” Red Autry said. “We got really careless offensively, where we just couldn’t get the right shot or take care of the ball, but we’ll get better at that.”
That would be the closest it got, though, as Syracuse finished the game with free throws.
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Betsey led the way with 14 points, while the Orange as a team made nine of 22 three-point attempts.
Syracuse takes on Division II Pace on Wednesday, inside the Dome.
