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Following a 20-win season in Adrian Autry’s first year at the helm, Syracuse enters the 2024-25 season as a fairly new team. The Orange missed the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and lost top threats like Judah Mintz, Maliq Brown and Quadir Copeland to the professional level and transfer portal.

To revamp its roster, Autry brought in top freshmen Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore, while also poaching Jaquan Carlos, Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Jyare Davis from the transfer portal. In the new look group’s first two exhibitions together, the Orange dominated both Clarion and Slippery Rock.

SU’s first official test was its season opener versus Le Moyne Monday evening. In the first matchup between the cross-town rivals with the Dolphins at the Division I level, the Orange quickly struggled to get going. An abysmal first-half shooting performance resulted in a six-point deficit. SU’s shooting struggles waned on in the second half but the performance of Lampkin and Davis inside and Chris Bell’s 14 second-half points helped the Orange escape with a win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 86-82 victory over Le Moyne (0-1, 0-0 Northeast Conference):

Slow start

A flying start would’ve been ideal to begin Autry’s second year at the helm. However, the Dolphins stole the show early.

Le Moyne grabbed the first lead after forcing multiple stops inside and then getting to the line for three. As SU fell into early foul trouble and were sloppy with the ball offensively, the Dolphins converted on their chances. Le Moyne got out to a lead as large as nine points eight minutes into the game.

Syracuse continued to cut down the deficit before J.J. Starling tied the game at 21-21 with under eight minutes to play. For the first 12 minutes, Le Moyne had the upper hand. Syracuse struggled from the charity stripe in this sequence, too, shooting just 4-of-8 while going 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Luckily for the Orange, the Dolphins also struggled with the 3, going 1-of-7 up until eight minutes to play in the half.

SU didn’t grab its first lead until the 7:12 mark but instantly gave it back up on a 3. The two sides went back and forth throughout the rest of the first half and the Dolphins went on a 9-3 run to close out the first half up five.

Donnie’s debut

In SU’s two preseason exhibitions, Freeman averaged 13.5 points and five rebounds in 36 total minutes. The top-ranked recruit earned his first start in the second exhibition versus Slippery Rock, though he rarely appeared in the second half.

In his first real college game, Freeman never got going. He finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds but went 3-of-12 from the field.

The freshman got to work early on the glass, corralling a rebound on both ends on each team’s first possessions. Freeman used his 6-foot-9 frame to his advantage against the Dolphins, who don’t have a player over the same height.

While Freeman was effective on the glass, he was sloppy when he controlled the ball. He turned the ball over twice before the first media timeout while missing two contested finishes inside. He was then substituted out before returning at the 9:22 mark.

Inserted back into the game, Freeman was the tallest on the court and immediately went inside. He controlled the ball in traffic and dished a pass to the left corner, where Starling buried a corner 3 to tie the game.

Freeman then made a 3 of his own, taking a pass from Starling in the right corner and converting with no hesitation. Minutes later, he worked his way inside and received a pass in the post, where he quickly put the ball on the floor and bullied his way to the basket for 2. Freeman struggled to shoot in the first half, going 2-for-8 from the field with eight points.

In the second half, Freeman’s woes continued. While still effective on the glass, he caught a lob from Carlos and turned in an acrobatic finish. Despite subpar efficiency, the freshman managed to turn in a double-double in his debut.

Inside battle

Last season, the Orange’s troubles in conference matchups fell heavily on their lack of size in the interior. To aid those woes, Syracuse brought in Lampkin from Colorado. The 6-foot-11 graduate student made his presence known in the first six minutes with four points. He used his body inside to spin and sink a left-handed floater.

But Lampkin recorded two fouls in the first six minutes before being substituted out and not returning in the first half. While Lampkin’s absence seemingly would cause center Naheem McLeod to enter, the senior didn’t appear at all. Instead, the Orange deployed Delaware transfer Jyare Davis to pair with Freeman for the rest of the half. And he emerged with significant production.

Davis was a bulldog inside, working his way into the interior and backing down defenders with his broad frame. In 13 minutes of play in the first half, Davis recorded seven rebounds and a team-leading nine points.

As Lampkin returned in the second half, he immediately put his shoulder down and recorded a layup to cut into SU’s deficit. Lampkin didn’t make much of an impact over the next six minutes and was again taken out for Davis.

Lampkin entered back in with 6:31 to play and paired with Davis. The two helped close out the game inside, both finding each other for passes in the paint with ferocious dunks to build up the lead. Lampkin finished the game with 10 points in just 19 minutes of play, while McLeod never entered and Davis recorded an impressive 22 points and 12 rebounds on 77% shooting.

Free throw, 3-point struggles

Syracuse’s prolific shooting ability was on full display in its final tune-up before the regular season. SU shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first half versus Slippery Rock while finishing 46%.

In the regular-season opener, it was largely the opposite. The Orange opened the game going 2-of-12 from 3 and 10-of-17 from the free-throw line. Overall, SU went 31% from the field in the half, resulting in a six-point halftime deficit.

Production was staggered as Bell scored 10 points of his own while knocking down a 3. To extend SU’s lead to 65-60, Bell hit another 3, this time from the right corner.

Yet it was Syracuse’s continuous shooting woes that allowed Le Moyne to stay in the game and make it interesting until the end. SU finished 4-of-22 from 3 and 43% from the field.

Published on November 4, 2024 at 9:43 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky