3 takeaways from Syracuse’s 94-86 win over Florida State

Syracuse extended their ACC win streak to three after taking down Florida State 94-86. Here are three takeaways from the game.

3-point disparity in the first half

After coming off a 113-69 demolition at the hands of NC State, Florida State came out hot in Central New York. The Seminoles seemingly could not miss from 3-point range to start, at one point shooting better than 60 percent from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, in the opening half, the Orange struggled to keep up, though they did start 4 of 11 from downtown. But Tyler Betsey came off the bench and showed off his shooting prowess by hitting four 3-pointers in the first half as the Orange took a narrow 43-40 lead into halftime.

“When I come into the game, I'm just trying to change the game,” Betsey said. “Really, coming off of the bench is my mindset.”

Even though Betsey came off the bench, he was Syracuse’s second leading scorer with 18 points coming off of six 3-pointers.

The story of the second half

The Orange started fast out of intermission, going on a 7-0 run to bring the lead to double-digits for the first time. But as fast as they amassed that lead, Florida State punched back with an 8-0 run bringing the game right back within two.

FSU's resurgence was directly attributable to second-chance opportunities. The Seminoles gathered 21 second-chance points in tonight's contest, which primarily came from their 15 offensive rebounds.

That stat is something head coach Autry addressed in his post game press conference calling it “not a good recipe to continue to win.”

Still, Freeman and William Kyle III combined for 17 rebounds as Syracuse ended +1 on the night in rebound margin.

A New Don

Donnie Freeman appeared in just 14 games as a freshman before being shut down the rest of the season with an injury. But he has put together a strong sophomore campaign after missing over a month of action in non-conference play.

In four ACC games, the forward has averaged 23 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. That's allowed SU to jump out to a 3-1 conference record.

“It just feels good to be back out here doing what I love to do,” Freeman said. “Its still a long season, I think we have 13-14 games left. I’ll put this one behind us and then I will get ready for Boston College and whatever is after that."

The Orange look to build on their win streak when they go on the road to face Boston College on Saturday.

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