Syracuse, N.Y. — Clemson (11-5, 1-0 ACC) rolled into the Dome and edged Syracuse (9-5, 0-1 ACC), 64-61, in the ACC opener for both squads, handing the Orange a tough first conference loss.
After a scoreless first half, Donnie Freeman did all he could to give Syracuse a fighting chance, picking up the pace down the stretch. The sophomore finished with 18 points and nine rebounds and was highly efficient after the break.
Freeman described his mentality in the second half, saying, “[Clemson] was nudging, pushing. That fired me up for sure.”
Once holding a double-digit lead in the second half, the Tigers saw Syracuse chip away, eventually pulling within 51-47 after William Kyle III converted a pair from the line with 6:01 left. Senior Tiger forward RJ Godfrey picked up his fourth personal foul on the play, sending the team’s leading scorer to the bench for a few minutes.
It looked like Clemson might be in trouble again this season. The Tigers had led by more than 20 points in games against No. 10 BYU and Cincinnati, only to lose to BYU by three and barely escape with a three-point win over Cincinnati.
Fortunately for the Tigers, senior guard Dillon Hunter finished with 10 points and delivered the defining stretch of the night with Godfrey on the bench, hitting back-to-back three-pointers late to keep Clemson in control.
Following a shooting foul on Freeman, junior Carter Welling converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, keeping it a one-possession game with 14 seconds left. Freeman had a clean look to tie the game on the ensuing possession, but his straightaway three did not fall, marking his only miss of the second half.
On the missed shot, Freeman said, “I shot it with confidence. If I could do it all over again, I would shoot the exact same shot, in the exact same way, in the exact same situation.”
Outside of Freeman, Syracuse struggled to find consistency on offense. The rest of the Orange combined to shoot just 13-for-34 from the field. Senior guard J.J. Starling, who recently surpassed the 1,000-point mark in Syracuse’s 77-48 home win over Stonehill, tallied just four points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry appreciated the effort from his players despite the loss. “The result wasn’t what we wanted, but the fight was there,” Autry said. The effort, however, was not enough to secure a win in a critical conference game at home.
While many Syracuse fans have been frustrated with the team’s offensive play so far, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell had a message for the Orange faithful. “I don’t know if they’re as stagnant as you think they are… They run a good initial action… I don’t think it’s uncharacteristic of college basketball,” Brownell explained.
One encouraging sign for Syracuse came at the free throw line. After entering the night ranked last in the nation in free throw percentage at 59 percent, the Orange converted 20-of-24 attempts, an 83 percent clip.
Although Syracuse could not close out the calendar year with a win, the Orange will look to ring in the new year with style when they travel to Georgia Tech on January 6. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a near upset, losing 85-79 at Cameron Indoor Stadium to the No. 6-ranked Duke Blue Devils.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EST at McCamish Pavilion, with streaming available on ACC Network.
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- Matt Mascarenhas
MATT SPORTS MEDIA 
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