Syracuse Basketball’s season is over after a 86-69 loss to SMU in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Here are three takeaways from the final game of the season:
1. Nate Kingz and Tyler Betsey were the only players who showed up offensively
This game would have been much uglier if Nate Kingz and Tyler Betsey didn’t shoot the way they did.
Kingz led the Orange in scoring with 25 points on just over 60% shooting from the field. For much of the season, it felt like the senior held much of the weight offensively on his shoulders. That remained the case today. The effort was strong, but he had little help from the rest of the starting five.
SU had 24 total bench points. 15 of those came from Tyler Betsey, who also finished with 7 rebounds and 5 three-pointers.
All said, Kingz and Betsey notched a combined 60% field goal percentage. The rest of the team shot just 33%. JJ Starling, Nait George, William Kyle, and Donnie Freeman totaled just 20 points.
2. Syracuse failed to put together two halves
All season long, the ‘Cuse struggled to put a full game together. In its final game of the season, that trend continued.
Syracuse trailed 39-38 after one half of play. But it would be outscored 47-31 in the final 20 minutes, with its largest deficit reaching as many as 21 points.
That never can be a recipe for winning, and it cost the Orange not just this game, but countless wins in ACC play.
3. The loss all but sealed Adrian Autry’s fate
Autry’s out, and everyone knows it.
The “Orange Standard” is no more. Syracuse finishes the 2025-2026 season with a record under the .500 mark for a second straight year on a six-game losing streak. Not only that, this is SU’s first loss in the first round of the ACC tournament, and fifth straight season missing the NCAA Tournament.
If this isn’t rock bottom, then what is?
This loss marks the end of one of the most disappointing eras in Syracuse Men’s Basketball history. Autry tried his best, but he was simply never the man for the job.
Onto next season.
