Syracuse escapes with a victory over Monmouth to stay unbeaten and improve to 4-0

It was not pretty, but the Syracuse Orange stayed unbeaten with a 78-73 win at the JMA Wireless Dome over the Monmouth Hawks to improve to 4-0 for the first time in several years.  Preseason All-ACC second team senior guard JJ Starling made his return to action since he suffered a right leg injury in the beginning of the first game of the season against Binghamton. Head coach Adrian Autry decided to start Starling and moved the team's second-leading scorer (17.3 PPG), freshman guard Kiyan Anthony, to the bench. Anthony had been starting in Starling's place since he was injured.

The Orange led the Hawks 73-62 with 2:48 remaining in the game. From that point on, Monmouth mounted an 11-3 run that put the Hawks in a position to send the game to overtime with less than 10 seconds to go. Monmouth's Jason Rivera-Torres missed a potential game-tying three pointer and the Orange were able to secure the defensive rebound and put the nail in the coffin with two free throws with less than a second remaining. Coach Autry was asked what his biggest concern was after almost blowing what was at once a 14-point lead with under seven minutes left in the game. 

"Tonight, we had too many dips, and we didn't continue and stay consistent with our energy," Autry said. "Obviously we have to work on that. It's a work in progress, but I don't think our energy was there consistently. When our energy is there and our focus is there, that makes a difference." 

In Starling's first game back from injury, he played 26 minutes and scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting, but missed three free throws toward the end of the game, which ended up being a storyline for the team overall. Syracuse was 19-33 (57.6%) from the charity stripe.  This is something coach Autry said they must improve. 

"We'll get better at that and continue to work on that," Autry said. "We have guys who are capable of making them, and eventually we'll get that going. If we made some of our free throws, the game would have been a little bit different, but the game didn't really come down to free throws. It was really about our energy and our dips and our inconsistent defense efforts, which is my biggest concern."

Sophomore forward Donnie Freeman led the way with 18 points on 3-10 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists. Although Freeman did not have a great shooting night from the field, he did convert 12 out of 14 free throws, which was by far the best on the team (the rest of the team was 7-19 combined). Freeman said he hopes this game will better prepare them for their next couple of higher-caliber matchups. 

"We have to show everyone next week that we're for real," said Freeman. "We want to show everyone the work we've put in, and we're excited and this is a big opportunity for us and the whole Syracuse community. These next three games can really change the trajectory of our season." 

"It was an aggressive game," said Freeman. "I feel like it's a wake-up call for sure. The past three games we've been on what we've needed to do defensively. I feel like today, we weren't on our A-game defensively. We've known that rebounding has been a weakness and it was exposed tonight, so I got to be better there as well, and we as a team have to be better."

Senior guard Nate Kingz and junior guard Naithan George added 15 points and 12 points, respectively. George was particularly effective with his playmaking and ball distribution, finishing with nine assists. George gave credit to Monmouth for pushing the Orange to the brink of defeat.

"They hit open shots and they crashed the glass, and that's how coach said it was going to be," said George. "Our preparation has to be better. Coach warned us too about our preparation, and that's what happened." 

Freshman forward Sadiq White was a spark plug off the bench for Coach Autry, scoring eight points on 4-5 shooting in 11 minutes. White somehow managed to foul-out in his 11 minutes of action, but was someone who was able to raise the offensive and defensive intensity when the Orange appeared to hit periods of lulls. 

"Coach told me to go out there and just play hard and don't worry about the fouls," said White. "Hearing that from our leader and our head coach gave me a little extra fire. I hate that fell to the mercy of the whistle tonight. Five fouls in 11 minutes is outrageous, but I just want to go out there and play hard.

Senior forward William Kyle III started at the center spot once again, contributing seven points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes. Kyle III hopes the outcome of this game will alert the team to areas of improvement before traveling to Las Vegas next week.

"It was an aggressive game," said Kyle III. "I feel like it's a wake-up call for sure. The past three games we've been on what we've needed to do defensively. I feel like today, we weren't on our A-game defensively. We've known that rebounding has been a weakness and it was exposed tonight, so I got to be better there as well, and we as a team have to be better."

The Orange have now won all four meetings with Monmouth. Each pairing has been contested in the Dome since the teams first squared off in 2012-13. Syracuse will now travel to Las Vegas for the Player Era Men's Championship as they look to start 5-0 next Monday, November 24 against Associated Press No. 2 Houston. Tip-off for that game is set for 6 p.m. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.