Syracuse soars past Binghamton and shows no mercy in opener: Final score, recap, photos

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse basketball team takes on the Binghamton Bearcats at 7 p.m., Monday in the JMA Wireless Dome.

The game is available to stream on ACC Network Extra.

See in-game team and individual stats here.

Note: Refresh this page throughout Syracuse’s game vs. Binghamton to see the latest updates

Final: Syracuse 85, Binghamton 47

Syracuse handled its business in a breezy Quad 4 home win without senior guard JJ Starling, who was sidelined for most of the game with a lower-body injury.

How serious is SU taking its NET metrics this year? Adrian Autry kept his starters in for the duration of a game the Orange won by nearly 40 points despite students chanting late for walk-on Noah Lobdell to enter the game.

And Naithan George heaved up (and made a 3) in the final minute.

Compare that to a year ago, when Autry’s team staved off an upset bid by cross-town foe Le Moyne that ultimately ended up as a red flag for the rest of a 14-19 season.

Before Monday night’s game was even 4 minutes old, a hushed worry fell over the dome as Starling exited for the locker room and returned to the bench with a towel draped over his head.

He sat out the rest of the game with what the team called a lower-body injury.

But instead of wilting without last year’s leading scorer, the Orange jumped out to a 10-0 lead, then 14-4, and never allowed the Bearcats to come any closer.

The Orange forced 15 of the Bearcats’ 22 turnovers in the first half. It allowed one made 3 the whole game.

Syracuse struggled to get going offensively in the first half without Starling but found success throughout the game getting the ball to William Kyle around the basket.

The UCLA-center jumped out of the gym Monday night, finishing with 16 points on eight field goals — and it seemed like every one of them came off a lob for Kyle to snatch high in the air and finish with a dunk.

Freshman Kiyan Anthony played a team-high 28 minutes on the night with Starling out. He started the second half and poured in 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting in his official college debut.

Syracuse shot just 4-for-21 from 3-point range, with George hitting two, and Betsey and Anthony hitting one apiece. Only Betsey (1-for-7) and George (2-for-4) took more than three attempts from 3.

William Kyle is all over the floor

Kyle is putting on an exhibition in catching and finishing at the basket.

It’s difficult to place the last time a Syracuse center could get up as effortlessly as Kyle gets off the floor.

He’s 7-for-8 from the field, and it seems as though just about every basket has come off a lob to the UCLA transfer.

An overlooked element of his game: He’s always on the move without the ball, setting screens, trying to make his defender work hard on that end of the floor. Even if his touches are limited, he’s fun to watch.

Just before the under-4 media timeout, Kyle used his long arms to bother the Binghamton ball-handler near the far corner, then used his quickness to get a hand on a desperate drive to the basket with the shot clock winding down to force a violation.

He’s been terrific tonight.

Syracuse 72, Binghamton 43; with 3:52 remaining second half

The second unit keeps its foot on the gas

Any concern about the Orange letting up in this one seems to be getting put to bed.

Autry has turned again to the reserve unit of Luke Fennell and Bryce Zephir at guard, Betsey and White at forward and Souare at the five.

Starling’s absence and a huge margin likely factor into the lineup here, but it’s a defensive-minded group that plays hard.

Souare is so agile and quick to be able to pressure the ball at the top of the key and recover to get back in the lane.

Fennell got his first basket off an offensive rebound by Souare, who got a chase-down block at the other end.

Syracuse 53, Binghamton 26 with 11:26 remaining second half

Kiyan Anthony starts second half and shows off his offensive bag

Syracuse has opened up a 27-point lead early in the second half, executing better on the offensive end.

Nate Kingz came off a curl and dropped one off to William Kyle for another dunk.

Naithan George then hit a 3 early in the shot clock. George is up to a team-high 11 points to go along with five assists and three rebounds.

Anthony, who started the second half with Starling out, switches to his left hand on the drive to the basket and lays it in.

Anthony then pumped to create space and hit a step-back jumper. Then, he cuts back-door for a slam off a feed by George off the shot fake.

Anthony gives the backboard a little tap. He now matches George with a game-high 11.

Syracuse 49, Binghamton 22 with 14:51 remaining second half

Halftime: Syracuse 32, Binghamton 14

Syracuse has too much size and athleticism to allow Binghamton to threaten the outcome, but the Orange had a hard time in its half-court offense with its best driver out of the game.

JJ Starling exited by the time the game was 4 minutes old with a lower-leg injury and is unlikely to return tonight. He returned to the bench in the first half, a towel draped over his head, holding the back of his right leg around his hamstring.

Without the senior guard and last year’s leading scorer, SU struggled to score until a late-half surge drove the margin to 18.

It missed its first 10 3-point attempts before Cincinnati transfer Tyler Betsey connected from deep with 3:02 remaining in the half.

Syracuse forced 15 turnovers and turned it over just three times. Binghamton’s 14 points are the fewest first-half points by an opponent since Jan. 15, 2020 (13 vs. Boston College).

“Our defense has been phenomenal,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said on the broadcast at halftime. “We have to get our offense going.”

The Bearcats shot just 25% in the half (5-for-20) from the field, including 1-for-8 from 3.

The Orange got easy baskets around the rim on lobs from point guard Naithan George to center William Kyle. Donnie Freeman got a transition dunk.

Syracuse jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game and played the rest of the way without Starling. He appeared to injure himself after taking a bit of an awkward step attacking the basket.

When the shots aren’t falling ... get above the rim

Syracuse is defending well, holding the Bearcats to just 2-for-12 shooting, but the Orange is having a hard time turning its defense into offense.

Freeman badly missed an uncontested, straight-on 3 off the pick-and-pop from George. Freeman then launched from 3 with a hand in his face.

Syracuse has started 0-for-10 from 3.

But it got back-to-back dunks to force the Bearcats to call timeout.

George lobbed a high, arcing pass toward William Kyle, who soared for the slam.

Freeman then got an easy transition slam.

George has six points, three rebounds and four assists to no turnovers.

He basically just threw it high to Kyle, who again easily outjumped Binghamton for a lay-in.

Starling has returned to the bench, but he’s seated at the far end with warm-up pants on and some kind of treatment on the back of his leg. It looks like that might be it for Starling tonight.

Syracuse 25, Binghamton 12, with 3:40 remaining first half

Starling heads for locker room

Senior guard JJ Starling exited the floor and went into the locker room by the first media timeout.

Starling had a bit of an awkward step attacking the basket, cutting with his left foot. Former Syracuse player Eric Devendorf is on the call for the ACC Network and says Starling may have tweaked something in his lower-leg area, like a calf or hamstring, after walking viewers through video replay.

That puts a bit of a hush over an otherwise flawless 10-0 spurt for the Orange to open the game.

Donnie Freeman and Naithan George each with four early points.

Kiyan Anthony got the nod with Starling out of the game.

Head coach Adrian Autry has already played 10 guys by the midway point of the first half.

He briefly rolled out a lineup that could switch 1 through five against an undersized Binghamton squad: Kiyan Anthony and Luke Fennell at guard; Sadiq White, Tyler Betsey and Akir Souare in the frontcourt.

Syracuse 12, Binghamton 4 with 11:55 remaining first half

Pregame

Welcome back, college basketball.

The Syracuse Orange opens the 2025-26 season against in-state opponent Binghamton, ranked No. 323 in the preseason by KenPom. (Syracuse, by comparison, checks in at No. 68 entering Monday night’s opener.)

That vast disparity is merely one barometer of what’s expected to unfold on the court tonight, just the same as the 21.5-point margin by which the Orange is favored.

Syracuse scheduled its non-conference slate with an eye toward March, and the Bearcats are first on a home menu of junk food designed to fatten up its NCAA Tournament resume metrics.

For the calories to be worth it, the Orange needs to decisively handle the Bearcats. Its two exhibition wins against Buffalo and Division II Pace in the preseason look fine by the final margin, but defensive lapses kept things tight against teams that, on paper, should not be hanging around an NCAA Tournament-worthy outfit.

The primary lineup and substitution patterns third-year coach Adrian Autry uses will be intriguing after playing a ton of lineups in the preseason.

The projected starting five of Naithan George, JJ Starling, Nate Kingz, Donnie Freeman and William Kyle remains unchanged.

Freshman guard Kiyan Anthony was among the first off Autry’s bench, and the expectation is for him and freshman forward Sadiq White to log some minutes on this night.

How often and when Autry utilizes forwards Akir Souare and Tyler Betsey and other depth pieces is not yet as clear.

Freshman guard Luke Fennell, who missed the Orange’s exhibition win vs. Pace last week, is warming up and looks to be available to play.