Syracuse's Kingz Shines, But Orange Fail to Ripen

For the second game of the first round of the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men's Basketball Tournament, two teams were pitted against one another with the 14th-seeded Syracuse Orange (15-16 overall, 6-12 ACC) facing the 11th-seeded SMU Mustangs (19-12, 8-10 ACC) that had seen each other less than a month ago, when the Syracuse defeated SMU at home by a single point, 79-78, on a layup by redshirt-senior guard Nate Kingz with two seconds remaining on Valentine's Day.

So it was fitting that the player who had the final points of the last bout achieved the first points of this next chapter, with Kingz getting the Orange on the board first, with a three at the 19:18 mark, giving Syracuse an early 3-0 lead.

The Orange would hold the lead for just shy of three minutes when senior transfer guard Jason Pierre, Jr., dunked it home after missing a three-point attempt, putting the Mustangs ahead 6-5 at the 17:20 mark.

Syracuse would tie the game at the 16:35 mark, 8-8, thanks to an old-fashioned three-point play by junior guard Naithan George.

Kingz would then extend the Orange out to a two-point lead on a layup, but senior guard Boopie Miller answered immediately with a three that gave the lead back to the Mustangs, at 11-10.

SMU would hold onto the lead for almost three minutes (15:33 to the 12:45 mark), with Syracuse sophomore forward Tyler Betsey's three tying the game at 16.

A three by Kingz made it 19-16 Orange.

However, nine of the next 11 points would come from the Mustangs, giving SMU a two-possession lead, at 25-21.

The Mustangs would lead the charge from here but Betsey's three from straight away would bring the Orange within one, down 31-30, at the 4:04 mark.

Kingz's jumper with 3:27 remaining put the lead back in the hands of Syracuse, at 32-31, which freshman center Jaden Toombs responded to with a second-chance shot off of his offensive rebound, and Betsey replied to that with another first-half deep shot, making the score 35-33 Orange.

Toombs tied the game from in the paint and sophomore center Samet Yigitoglu got two right after from inside as well to give SMU a 37-35 lead.

Kingz responded with his third make from long range and Yigitoglu went inside once again, all leading to a 39-38 lead for the Mustangs.

There were 11 lead changes in the first half, with SMU taking their one-point lead into the locker room.

With a little over five minutes into the second half, the Mustangs had stretched out to a nine-point advantage, 51-42, out-scoring the Orange 12-4 to open the latter half.

A jumper by Kingz at the 13:22 mark would help him surpass 20 points on the night, with 21 at this point in the game.

Miller would have an immediate reply with a jumper of his own to move the Mustangs into a double-digit advantage, 56-46.

Pierre would connect on back-to-back threes coming out of a break in the action, extending SMU out to a 14-point lead, 62-48, inside 10:30 to play.

Two free throws by Miller would make it a 16-point advantage for the Mustangs.

Pierre would get to three-straight deep shots with his third coming at the 9;34 mark to move SMU to a 67-48 lead.

He would make his fourth three-pointer of the contest at the 7:14 mark to give the Mustangs a 20-point point lead, 72-52.

Betsey would make back-to-back threes inside six minutes remaining, bringing him to a 5-for-8 performance from deep, and getting the Orange within 13, down 74-61, at the 4:50 mark.

Freshman forward Sadiq White, Jr., would follow with a slam from an alley by George which would give Syracuse a 9-0 run to get to a 74-63 deficit.

White would, however, foul out for the Orange with 2:50 remaining.

Syracuse senior forward Donnie Freeman would follow White off the floor when he picked up his fifth and final foul at the 1:20 mark.

Senior forward William Kyle, III, would score three-straight for the Orange late on a putback dunk and going 1-for-2 at the charity stripe, which brought the score to 84-69 Mustangs.

SMU would run out the clock, winning by 17, 86-69.

Kingz and Miller would each end the night with 25 points.

The Mustangs will move on to face the 6th-seeded Louisville Cardinals in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at 2:30pm ET on ESPN.