Kingz Hits Last Second Shot to Lift Orange Past SMU

Saturday, February 14

Syracuse, NY

2:00 PM

Syracuse University

15-11,6-7ACC

Southern Methodist

17-8,6-6ACC

SMU

Syracuse

Kingz Hits Last Second Shot to Lift Orange Past SMU

2/14/2026 4:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Senior Nate Kingz converted a contested layup in the final seconds to give the Orange a 79-78 lead, and Syracuse (15-11, 6-7 ACC) held off SMU (17-8, 6-6) in a comeback victory at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Donnie Freeman paced the Orange attack with 18 points and added a career-high four blocks. Senior Naithan George posted 16 points, while freshman Kiyan Anthony tied his ACC scoring high with 13 points off the bench. The Orange made 11 3-pointers, equaling a season high.

Freshman Jaden Toombs had 19 points to lead the Mustangs, who saw six players score in double figures. Boopie Miller, the league's sixth-highest scorer, was held to 11 points, tying a season-low.

How the Game Was Decided
With just under four minutes left on the clock and the Orange trailing 76-72, sophomore Tyler Betsey drilled a 3-pointer to pull the Orange within one point. After Corey Washington missed a 3-point attempt at the other end, Betsey grabbed the rebound and hit George in transition for a basket to give Syracuse a 77-76 lead with 3:18 to go.

The Mustangs pulled back ahead when Jaden Toombs hit a jumper. Kingz missed a layup on the other end, but Freeman kept SMU from extending the lead any further with his career-high fourth rejection on a Washington layup attempt.

After Toombs put the Mustangs ahead with 2:43 to go, neither team scored for over two minutes. With 39 ticks left, the Mustangs had the ball and turned to Boopie Miller, who missed a floater before Betsey snared another rebound to give Syracuse a final possession.

Following a Syracuse timeout with 13 second left, George found Kingz on the perimeter who drove and scored to put the Orange up 79-78 with two seconds left to play. The SMU full-court heave came up empty, and Syracuse held on to win.

Orange Make Mustangs Pay at the Line Early
The Mustangs got into foul trouble early, reaching seven fouls at the 13-minute mark to put the Orange in the bonus for the rest of the first half. The Orange knocked down 7-of-8 (.875) from the charity stripe, accounting for half of their first 14 points.

George was a perfect 4-of-4 (1.000) while Freeman went 3-of-4 (.750) from the free throw line over the first eight minutes to keep the Orange within two points at 16-14. SMU's fast-paced offense shot 7-of-16 (.438) and outrebounded Syracuse, 9-5, over the stretch to maintain the narrow edge.

After the Orange's string of successful trips to the free-throw line, SMU went on an 8-3 run where they shot 4-of-4 (1.000) from the field to pull ahead, 24-17, with just over nine minutes left in the half. SMU leaned on Samet Yigitoglu early, chipping in eight points and making all four of his first shot attempts.

Syracuse Closes First Half on Scoring Run
The Orange experienced a scoring drought where the Mustangs went on a 9-0 run to open up a 33-21 advantage. Jaron Pierre Jr. and Jaden Toombs scored five and four points, respectively, to power the run.

Kingz halted the drought with a 3-pointer followed by a triple from George on the ensuing possession to kick off a surge for the Orange. The back-to-back shots from deep started a 14-6 run over the final 5:05 of the half to cut the deficit to 39-35.

Freeman led the offense in the first half with 11 points and grabbed four rebounds while swatting away three shots on the defensive end. Syracuse held Miller scoreless in the opening 20 minutes.

Mustangs Charge Ahead Early in Second Half
After the Orange struck first in the second half, the Mustangs went on a 12-4 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes. SMU sunk four straight shots, including two 3-pointers, to build a double-digit lead at 51-41 at 16:46.

SMU equaled its largest lead of the afternoon at 59-47 with 13:23 to go. Kingz hit another 3-pointer and a fadeaway jumper while Anthony hit a layup to bring the lead back to single digits at 63-56 with 10:25 left on the clock.

Anthony Brings the Orange Back
Anthony reignited the Orange offense, hitting a contested jumper, followed by a deep 3-pointer. Betsey rattled home a triple on the ensuing possession, forcing the Mustangs to call a timeout with the visitors up 69-64 with just over eight minutes to go.

Coming out of the stoppage, George drilled a 3-pointer which Betsey followed up with a jumper to close the gap to just two. Moments later, Anthony sliced to the rim and finished a layup through a foul before completing the and-one to give the Orange a 72-71 advantage with 5:40 to go before the decisive final sequence.

Notable Numbers

All five Syracuse starters scored in the first five minutes.
Three of Freeman's four blocks came in the first half.
Syracuse won despite holding the lead for just 1:33
Syracuse entered the game ranked first in Division I blocked shot average (6.2) and added eight rejections to its season total.
The Orange overcame a 12-point deficit to win, their largest comeback of the season.
George matched the previous team high with 37 minutes played in a non-overtime game.
Freeman led the Orange in scoring for the 11^th time this season.
Syracuse shot 17-of-34 (.500) in the second half.

Up Next
The Orange have a quick turnaround as they head to Durham, N.C. to face #4 Duke on Monday evening. The tilt with the Blue Devils is set for a 7 p.m. tip and will air on ESPN.

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