What Adrian Autry said about Donnie Freeman's status after Syracuse's loss to Houston

Syracuse showed both Orange Nation and the nation in general Monday in its opening game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, that this is certainly a different-looking team in Red Autry's third season.

Sure, third-ranked Houston is finding its way along with the other 16 teams playing in the exciting-formatted, multi-team event, but Syracuse showed in making its 11-0 run to force overtime, that even minus one of its key players, the 'Cuse roster was carefully built this season to be flexible with its moving parts.

Freeman will be back this season, but the timetable is still to be determined

Autry termed Freeman's lower body injury, which appears to be a tweaking of the injured foot he suffered last season, as "a quick pause." Freeman fell awkwardly on a layup attempt in the first half last week against Monmouth, and was in a walking boot when the team arrived in Las Vegas.

"I don't have all the details (yet), but this is not something that will be season-ending, or anything like that," Autry confirmed.

Knowing that Freeman was not going to play in three successive games against quality competition, his 'Cuse teammates rallied around the team's leading scorer heading into the event.

"We talked to Donnie, he let us know (his status), he was real encouraging," center William Kyle III, who had a double-double (16 and 10) plus a couple steals with active defense against UH, said afterwards. "Every guy on the roster can play out there and compete , so (Donnie) was real encouraging to us to go out there and fight like we did."

Adrian Autry's "Culture" is to Fran Brown's "DART"

While certainly disappointed that his team could not complete a second-half comeback against the Cougars with the final possession in regulation and a chance to pull the upset, Autry and his staff had to be pleased to get a first-hand look at all the work they put into the off-season makeover of the scholarship (NIL) roster, showing signs of paying off.

Autry repeatedly used the word "culture" in his postgame remarks, describing the foundation that's been built to get the team back into the national rankings and the NCAA Tournament.

"I was encouraged with our culture, the things that we talk about, the things that we work on," Autry said. "What we pride ourselves on is our culture. Our energy, our toughness, checking in. This is a hard-working program, and as we move forward we'll continually get better."

We will get a quick chance to gauge the Orange, as it will be intriguing to see how both Syracuse and Kansas (a 71-61 winner over Notre Dame) come out in SU's second game of the Players Era Festival Tuesday afternoon (3:30 p.m. ET / TNT).

SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE

For more discussion on Syracuse athletics, visit our free Syracuse Orange discussion forum.