Orange Edged Late by Kansas

Tuesday, November 25

Las Vegas

3:30 PM

Syracuse University

4-2,0-0ACC

Kansas

5-2,0-0Big 12

Syracuse

Kansas

11/25/2025 5:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

Syracuse (4-2) rallied to a two-point deficit with six minutes remaining but Kansas (5-2) answered with an 11-0 run and finished with a 71-60 triumph in the second round of the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.

Sophomore Tyler Betsey once again paced the Syracuse offense, scoring 12 points while knocking down four three pointers. Senior J.J. Starling had 10 points and senior William Kyle III added nine points and nine rebounds. Senior Nate Kingz and freshman Sadiq White Jr. each finished with nine points.

Tre White had 15 points to lead the Jayhawks, while Flory Bidunga recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

How The Game Was Decided
After trailing by as much as 11 in the second half, the Orange cut the margin to 50-52 following back-to-back threes from JJ Starling and Betsey with 6:01 remaining. That would be as close as Syracuse would get, however, as the Jayhawks finished out the game by outscoring the Orange 19-8. swered with an 11-0 run.

First Half Fight
After a back-and-forth opening six minutes, Kansas pulled out to a 15-8 lead following a converted and-one from Bidunga. The Jayhawks would extend the margin to 30-17 on a Bryson Tiller layup with just over five minutes left in the first half.

Syracuse was able to cut the deficit to nine and entered the half trailing 34-25 following a Starling corner three. Sadiq White Jr. paved the way for the Orange in the first half with a team-high eight points and two blocks. For the Jayhawks, Bidunga led with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Resilient Orange
Despite finding themselves down double-digits at multiple stages in the contest, the Orange refused to go away. Syracuse trailed 30-17 with 5:03 left in the first half, but a Betsey three followed by a Naithan George jumper cut the deficit to eight.

Later in the second half, a converted and-one from Tiller saw the Jayhawks take a 52-41 lead with 10:46 remaining. The Orange once again clawed back, capping a 9-0 run with a Betsey three to put the score at 52-50.
Notable Numbers

The Orange had zero turnovers in the first half, the fewest in a half since they committed one against Richmond in 2022.
Syracuse's two turnovers were its fewest in a contest since recording four at Notre Dame in 2022.
Kansas grabbed 49 rebounds compared to Syracuse's 29.
Syracuse's reserves outscored Kansas' 18-9.
Kyle III logged his fourth contest with two or more blocks on the season.
The Orange had a 9-0 edge on points off turovers.

Up Next
The next opponent and game time for the Orange will be determined following the conclusion of second-round play.

Tickets
Syracuse season and individual tickets are available at cuse.com/feature/basketball-tickets.

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow the team on X (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (cuse_mbb).