Orange Downed by #15/13 Iowa State in Las Vegas

Wednesday, November 26

Last Vegas

1 PM

Syracuse University

4-3,0-0ACC

Iowa State

7-0,0-0Big 12

Syracuse

Iowa St.

11/26/2025 2:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference Photo Gallery

Syracuse (4-3) battled #15/13 Iowa State (7-0) to a one-point halftime deficit, but the Cyclones' second-half surge proved too much and the Orange fell, 95-64, in the consolation round of the Players Era Championship on Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman Sadiq White Jr. led the way offensively, scoring a squad-best 14 points, which included a 6-of-7 (.857) shooting effort from the field. Milan Momcilovic was a difference maker for the Cylclones, scoring 24 points while knocking down six threes.

How the Game Was Decided
The Orange emerged from the intermission down one, 35-34. Iowa State quickly expanded its advantage.

Over the first four minutes of the half, the Cyclones outscored the Orange 18-5 to open a 53-39 lead. Iowa State was 7-of-7 (1.000) over the run, including three makes from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Syracuse turned the ball over three times before the first media timeout.

Iowa State did not trail again.

Trading First Half Runs
The Cyclones and Orange traded long scoring runs in the first half. Iowa State kicked off the surges, coming out of the eight-minute media break by going on a 12-0 run. The Orange turned the ball over four times over the stretch, and the Cyclones pulled ahead, 28-18.

Syracuse answered with a 10-0 run of its own over a two-minute stretch. The streak for Syracuse was powered by the three ball. Junior Naithan George, senior Nate Kingz, and sophomore Tyler Betsey all buried a 3-pointer, and senior William Kyle III added a make from the free-throw line to complete the 10-point surge.

The Orange shot 8-of-19 (.421) from distance in the opening 20 minutes, with Betsey leading the way with six points on two makes. Syracuse went to the break trailing, 35-34.

Cyclones Surge in Second Half
Following the decisive strong start to the second half, the Cyclones didn't slow down. Iowa State finished the second period shooting 22-of-31 (.710) from the floor, including 6-of-11 (.545) on its 3-point attempts.

The Iowa State defense kept Syracuse in check, holding the Orange to just 10-of-26 (.385) shooting over the final 20 minutes.

Notable Numbers

Syracuse spread the ball out in the first half, with eight different players notching three points or more.
Seven different Syracuse players knocked down a shot from beyond the arc in the loss.
The Orange defense forced four turnovers in the opening eight minutes, scoring six points off those opportunities.
Freshman Luke Fennell made his first appearance at the Players Era Championship, and buried a 3-pointer on his first attempt.
The teams combined for 16 turnovers in the first half
Syracuse received 21 points off the bench.
The Orange recorded 28 points in the paint.
Iowa State turned the ball over just twice in the second half.

Up Next
The Orange will have the weekend off before hosting the #17/16 Tennessee Volunteers in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Tuesday, December 2. The game is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome and will air on ESPN2.

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).