Axe: Syracuse basketball brought the vibes back in season-opening blowout: ‘It’s refreshing to have that feeling’

Syracuse, N.Y. — How did an 85-47 win over Binghamton to start this season compare to a nail-biting 86-82 escape from Le Moyne to start last season?

With 11 new players on the 2025-26 Syracuse basketball roster and returning senior JJ Starling unavailable to reporters following an injury suffered against the Bearcats on Monday night, there was literally only one guy who could answer this question.

“Honestly, for us, like it’s a new season,” SU sophomore forward Donnie Freeman said. “I flushed everything that happened last season. It’s a new season. We have new goals, new team, a new opportunity and just got a fresh start for us. It’s refreshing to have that feeling.”

That’s the word right there, Donnie: refreshing.

The uh-oh feeling from Syracuse’s opening-game scare against Le Moyne last season never went away en route to a 14-19 season.

On Monday night, the right vibes were back in the dome.

Syracuse played at a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet of fun and put on a tremendous defensive effort, holding Binghamton to 14 first-half points and creating 22 turnovers overall.

The Orange collected 20 assists to just five turnovers of its own.

SU transfer center William Kyle III scored 16 points almost exclusively on dunks.

With his famous mother La La watching courtside, SU freshman phenom Kiyan Anthony showed off his three-level scoring with 15 points (his legendary dad Carmelo Anthony’s number!) in his Orange debut.

Kiyan shared a touching tidbit after the game about an emotional phone call with his father about his son’s debut in an Orange uniform as a boom mic from a documentary crew filing Anthony’s every move hovered.

“It was definitely great to hear his excitement and know he was watching me,” Anthony said. “He was just telling, like, ‘damn, it felt like yesterday when they won the championship.’ So all of these years going by to see his son put on the same jersey he put on, it’s definitely a blessing. I can only imagine how he felt watching.”

Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry was encouraged that he saw the same fire in his team’s eyes at the time of year it’s getting dark before 5 p.m., as he did over the summer at workouts when sundown seems to never come.

“I thought tonight really exemplified our summer,” Autry said. “Defending. Playing with energy. Sharing the basketball and just playing for 40 minutes. I thought our team did that tonight. Everyone who came in the game gassed out. It was fun for me to watch those guys compete like that.”

It was a complete tone shift for Autry, who scolded his team’s poor effort in an exhibition game against Pace last week at the dome.

So what were those summer workouts like that Autry referenced?

“I mean, what you’ve seen today was how we were in practice, you know, damn near ready to fight,” Anthony said.

“The intensity, athleticism, aggression, everything like this,” Freeman said. “That was (Coach) Red’s type of game if you couldn’t tell. I’m sure he was little jollier in the press conference.”

No opening night comes without hiccups and the Orange had a few.

Senior guard JJ Starling left the game with a leg injury.

Autry and Freeman both said Starling was “fine” after the game, so we’ll hopefully see his return sooner rather than later.

The Orange (4-of-21) and Bearcats (1-of-13) couldn’t buy a 3-pointer all night.

That’s alright. You’ll take a 38-point win with a 19% 3-point performance, one SU is keenly aware will appease the NET ranking overlords.

The best thing was seeing fun allowed back into the dome after a 2024-25 season mostly void of that emotion.

It’s a long season and Syracuse is just 1-0, but it’s certainly better than the dreadful feeling infecting all walking out of last year’s agita-inducing season-opener against the Dolphins.

“This is how we want to play and we’re going to keep building off it,” Freeman said. “We’re not even scratching the surface yet of where we’re going to be.”