Syracuse Loses 3rd-Straight in ACC Play

The Syracuse Orange welcomed a team from South Beach who has been having weather in the 70s to visit on a day that recorded single-digits in temperature.

Luckily for the Miami Hurricanes, this game was indoors in a controlled environment.

And Miami did just that, controlled the environment, early on.

Behind 9-0, Syracuse did not score their first points until almost four minutes into the contest, when redshirt-senior guard Nate Kingz connected with the net on a jumper at the 16:14 mark. Including this bucket by Kingz, the Orange would score on three-straight possessions, with the next two being back-to-back deep shots by junior guard Naithan George to bring them within three, down 11-8.

The Hurricanes went on a 9-2 run in response to go ahead 20-10.

By the six-minute mark, Syracuse senior forward William Kyle, III, slammed home an offensive rebound to get the Orange within three, 25-22.

Two possessions later, true freshman guard Kiyan Anthony nailed a three to make it 27-25 Hurricanes.

Shortly after, Miami senior forward Malik Reneau would be picked by redshirt-sophomore forward Ibrahim Soaure and Anthony would capitalize with a transition dunk, assisted by sophomore forward Donnie Freeman, which tied the game at 27-all.

The Hurricanes would lead the charge out of this tie, going on a 14-9 run to end the first half up 41-36 on the Orange.

Inside 18:30 left in the second half, senior guard J.J. Starling made both of his free throws to bring Syracuse within three, down 43-40.

A steal by Starling would be taken to the rim, but the dunk attempt would bounce off the rim, so what would have been a two-point game remained a two-possession deficit, 59-55.

Adding more sour to the Orange taste of that miss was that freshman forward Timo Malovec made a three immediately after to move the Hurricanes out to a 62-55 advantage.

Right around 10:30 left to play, Miami had gotten out to a double-digit lead, 66-56, after freshman forward Shelton Henderson went baseline and up for the lay-in. From that 10:32 mark when they were behind 66-56, Syracuse only got their deficit under double-digits twice in over six minutes, with the second time coming at the 3:49 mark on a dunk by true freshman forward Sadiq White, Jr., that made it 77-69 Miami.

The Hurricanes would close the game out with a nine-point victory, 85-76.

After winning three in a row and starting 3-1 overall in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Syracuse has now dropped three-consecutive games in conference play.

They are now 12-8 overall, 3-4 in the ACC.

On the winning side, Miami improved to 16-4 overall and 5-2 in the ACC.

Reneau led the Hurricanes with 20 points, followed by Henderson and senior guard Tre Donaldson with 16 apiece, and junior guard Tru Washington with 14.

Freeman was atop all Orange with 14 points, followed by George and Anthony with 13 each, Kingz with 11, and Kyle with 10.