Syracuse, N.Y. – The Syracuse Orange held off Monmouth’s upset bid on Tuesday night, surviving the Hawks’ late-game surge for a 78-73 victory.
But poor free throw shooting nearly cost Syracuse the game.
Syracuse had struggled at the free throw line in its first three wins of the season, but the massive margin of victories (38, 40 and 30 points) kept the free throw woes from biting the Orange in Otto’s you-know-what.
On Tuesday, the game was tight and got even tighter as Syracuse gave away points and possessions with missed opportunities at the line. The Orange made just 57% of its free throws against Monmouth, going 19-for-33.
The issues grew worse and the situation more dire in the second half when the Orange went 10-for-21 (47%) at the charity stripe.
Monmouth had trailed by 11 points with just under 3 minutes remaining but rallied to within two points with 30 seconds left.
When Syracuse reserve Bryce Zephir missed two free throws with 10 seconds on the clock, the Hawks had the ball down 76-73 with a chance to tie. Fortunately for Syracuse, Monmouth missed its game-tying 3-point attempt and the Orange improved to 4-0.
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Syracuse Orange Mens Basketball 2025-26: Syracuse vs. Monmouth
After the game, Syracuse coach Adrian Autry tried to downplay the Orange’s free throw futility.
“We’ll get better at that,’’ Autry said, referring to the team’s foul shooting. “I think we have guys that are capable of making them and I think eventually, we’ll get that going.’’
Autry focused his concern on the Orange’s erratic intensity. It’s something he has harped on since the preseason.
“It was really about our energy,’’ he said. “I just felt our dips, too many inconsistent defensive efforts. We put together three minutes and then two. Three minutes is not good. So, that’s what we were … That’s what I’m really concerned about is that.’’
It may be early in the season, but it’s hard to not also be concerned with the growing sample size of poor free throw shooting.
In its four games, Syracuse is now shooting 61.1% at the line. That would be the lowest for the Orange in nearly 40 years, going back to the 1987-88 team which made just 60% of its free throws. The 1988-89 squad wasn’t very good either, making 61.2% at the line.
They say shooting is contagious; perhaps missing is, too. In which case, Syracuse has a full-blown outbreak of free throw problems this season.
Donnie Freeman is the only starter who is making more than 70% of his free throws.
On Tuesday, Freeman went 12-for-14 at the line. The rest of the team shot a woeful 7-for-19 (36.8%).
“We’ve just got to be better as a team,’’ SU freshman Kiyan Anthony, who went 2-for-5 at the line against Monmouth, said. “Guards got to make free throws. Free throws win games. If we make our free throws, that’s a double-digit win. So definitely, that’s a main point to fix.’’
One easy fix to the free throw problem is to simply get the ball into the right players’ hands.
Syracuse point guard Naithan George made 79% of his free throws last year at Georgia Tech. In four games for SU this year, George is just 4-for-6 at the line.
Nate Kingz was an 82% free throw shooter at Oregon State in 2024-25. He’s 0-for-2 this season and didn’t go to the line against Monmouth.
George said he needed to get the ball despite Monmouth’s efforts to prevent that.
“Their coach had said like, ‘Don’t let George get it,’ ” George said. “So I just really trust my teammates that they’re going to knock it down.
“We’ve got to prepare for this and even I missed two free throws, so it happens to the best of us,’’ he added. “We’ve just got to just work harder.’’
In the game’s final six minutes, Freeman went 4-for-4 at the line, which was great. But the other Syracuse players who got sent to the stripe were Akir Souare (0-1), William Kyle (1-1), Zephir (0-2) and JJ Starling (1-4).
Starling’s trips to the line got really hairy. The senior guard had a pronounced hitch in his shooting motion and twice lofted air-balls.
Starling may not be a 90% free throw shooter, but he’s not as bad as he looked on Tuesday. He’s got a career .680 free throw shooting percentage.
“Yeah, I mean, I guess that just comes from a lack of focus,’’ Starling said of his free throws against Monmouth.
Autry noted Starling had missed SU’s previous two games with a leg injury and just needed to find his rhythm.
“Obviously, shooting is a lot of mental stuff, so you’re going to try not to put too much into that,’’ Autry said. “You just want to try to get him some reps and give him some faith, and just kind of work his way through it. He’ll be back.’’
That said, in late-game situations the ball needs to go to Freeman, George and Kingz until the rest of the SU players improve. Anthony should be an option once he irons out his stroke. Two other freshmen, Luke Fennell and Sadiq White, are 3-for-3 and 2-for-2, respectively, so far this season.
Syracuse did a lot to make Tuesday’s win over Monmouth a nervous one, but the Orange still avoided a devastating home loss to a mid-major team. It was the first time in four games that the Orange had faced any kind of adversity.
It’ll face a lot more next week when it goes up against Houston, Kansas and a third team at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
“To be able to pull it out, you know, that’s a good encouraging sign,’’ Autry said. “But we’ve still got to keep getting better. I think we can take a lot out of this game and get better and get prepared to move forward.’’
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