Syracuse collapses in second half, gets routed by #15 Iowa State

The Orange ran out of gas after halftime and the Cyclones made them pay for it.

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Betsey (5) reacts during the second half in a 2025 Players Era Festival group play game against the Kansas Jayhawks at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Syracuse played 100 minutes of very good basketball while in Las Vegas for the Players Era Men’s Championship.  Unfortunately, that netted them three straight defeats, including when their tank bottomed out against #15 Iowa State.  The Orange (4-3) fought hard for a half, but got blitzed in the first four minutes of the second half by the Cyclones (7-0), who rolled from there to a 95-64 rout.

After a tight first half with SU down just 35-34, Iowa State blitzed them by making their first seven shots to push their lead to 14 and force Adrian Autry to call a second called time out of the half with just four minutes elapsed.  The Cyclones continued their onslaught for the remainder of the game, shooting 71.0 percent from the field in the second half.

The Orange had plenty of mistakes in the game

After committing just two turnovers the previous day against Kansas, Syracuse coughed the ball up 19 times, yielding 30 points.  The Orange also seemed to lose their legs in the second half, missing all nine of their 3-point attempts after knocking down 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) before the break.

The game was a back-and-forth affair in the opening half with the lead staying within four points in either direction for much of the 20 minutes.  Iowa State had an emphatic run after the midpoint of the half, ripping off 12 straight points in just over 90 seconds of play for a 28-18 lead.

SU immediately responded to that salvo, erasing the margin with ten straight markers.  Naithan George, Nate Kingz, and Tyler Betsey each buried a triple in the span, then Betsey answered a Cyclone basket with another 3-pointer for a 31-30 Syracuse lead less than three minutes before the break.

After Iowa State dumped that opening barrage of the second half on the Orange, the margin stayed in the teens until they tacked on another run.  The Cyclones added ten straight points around the midpoint of the half, blowing the game wide open at 73-47.  SU never got within 25 points after that.

Sadiq White Jr. led Syracuse with 14 points, making 6-of-7 shots from the floor before fouling out.  Betsey and J.J. Starling each added ten, but struggled from the field, particularly Betsey, who went 1-of-10, including 0-of-6 on 3’s, in the second half.  William Kyle III had nine points and Kiyan Anthony eight.

Four Iowa State players had at least a dozen points, led by Milan Momcilovic, who rained down 6-of-10 3-point shots as he piled up a game-high 24 points.  Killyan Toure had 19 points while Josh Jefferson added a 13-point, ten-assist double-double.  Blake Buchanan and Dominic Nelson each tallied a dozen markers.

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