Syracuse fails to put away Florida State, but holds on for third straight win

As they did in their previous two victories, Syracuse had to hold on late, this time fending off Florida State for a 94-86 win at the JMA Wireless Dome. It was a back-and-forth game with each team leading for most of a half and deflecting pushes from the opponent. The Orange (12-5, 3-1 ACC) gained control late in the first half, but the Seminoles (7-10, 0-4) took a pair of one-point edges in the second half before SU took the lead for good and held on in the final minutes.

Syracuse set a season high by shooting 59.7 percent against FSU, including making 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) of their shots in the second half. The Orange also set a season high with 11 3-pointers in a game and shot over 40 percent from long range for the third time in their last five outings.

Florida State got off to a hot start, rattling off nine straight points for an early 11-3 lead. Syracuse answered with a run of their own, posting a 9-2 burst in less than two minutes to trim the margin down to a single point.

Much of the rest of the half followed a simple script where the Seminoles would make a couple shots to build a modest lead, then the Orange would answer in kind. SU got within a single point four times and tied the game once while Florida State never built a lead greater than six points.

Syracuse flipped the script late in the first half

The second FSU lead of a half dozen came four minutes after that tie and the Orange responded by rattling off seven straight points to take the lead at 37-36 and force the visitors to call their second timeout of the half. When play resumed, Tyler Betsey hit his fourth triple of the half to make it a 10-0 SU run, then Donnie Freeman added one of his own shortly after, but a Seminole dunk late in the half made it just a 43-40 Syracuse advantage at the break.

The Orange came out of the locker room flying, posting the first seven points of the half, punctuated by a pair of dunks by William Kyle III. FSU halved the lead to five twice, but SU stretched it back out to 57-47, drawing another Seminole time out.

The pause worked, as the guests posted the next eight points to trim the Syracuse lead to 57-55. Florida State eventually knotted the game at 61 a side less than seven minutes into the second half, then pushed in front at 67-64 a couple minutes later, making it a 20-7 run since calling a time out.

SU responded with a burst to take the lead for good, getting scoring from their other reserve forward

The Orange responded with a 12-2 run with Sadiq White Jr. scoring half the points, including punctuating the burst by throwing down an alley-oop from J.J. Starling. White was whistled for a foul on the following possession, then got a technical added on for his reaction to the call. The Seminoles sank all four foul shots to get within 76-73.

SU responded with 12 of the next 18 points to build an 88-79 advantage with a little over three minutes to play. Florida State went on a 7-2 run to draw within 90-86 with 45 seconds remaining, but Syracuse help on, getting dunks from Kyle and Starling to button up the contest.

Freeman led the way for the Orange with 25 points, including nine in the final 6:01 of play. Betsey was vital off the bench, connecting on 6-of-8 3-pointers for his 18 points. Starling was the only other SU player to reach double figures with 15 points, but Kyle added 11 points and Naithan George eight to go with a dozen assists.

Kobe MaGee paced FSU with 20 points on the night. Martin Somerville drained four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. Robert McCray V added 14 points while Lajae Jones had 13.

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