Syracuse men’s basketball: Orange comeback effort falls short in 71-60 loss to Kansas

LAS VEGAS, NV — Against its second-straight Q1 opponent of the Players Era Festival, the Syracuse Orange (4-2) once again fought and hung around, but came up short in a 71-60 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks (5-2) on Tuesday.

Syracuse trailed by as much as 13 in the first half and did trim the deficit down to as low as two points. However, it couldn’t overcome its inefficient performance on offense. The Orange shot just 32% for the game, including 7/30 (23%) from three, compared to 44% for the Jayhawks. A late run in the second half by the Jayhawks would put the game away for good and hand Syracuse its second loss in as many days.

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Tyler Betsey had a team-high 12 points on 4/13 shooting (4/10 from three). Other contributors included Nate Kingz (9 points), Sadiq White Jr. (9 points on 3/7 shooting) and William Kyle (9 points on 4/5 shooting, 8 rebounds). Kansas largely held Syracuse’s backcourt in check. Starling and Kiyan Anthony combined for 14 points on 5/25 shooting, while Naithan George had just five points and four assists.

Four different players scored in double-figures for the Jayhawks, with Tre White (15 points), Flory Bidunga (13 points and 13 rebounds) and Bryson Tiller (11 points and 8 rebounds) notably leading the way.

Both teams stormed out of the gate offensively. In the game’s first five minutes, Syracuse was 3/5 from the floor while Kansas was 4/8. Kingz got the Orange going on their first possession, drilling a corner three off the pass from White Jr., who also got a basket of his own to put ‘Cuse up 5-2 early. Kansas was feeding the rock early to Bidunga, who scored seven of the Jayhawks’ first 10 points. A transition score by Kingz would put Syracuse down 10-8 at the first media timeout.

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A brief cold spell for ‘Cuse saw it go without any points for almost three minutes. After two baskets from Bidunga and Tiller, the Orange suddenly faced an eight-point deficit (16-8). White Jr. would end the drought and cut that down to…

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Publish date : 2025-11-25 22:44:00

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