SMU 77, Syracuse 75: Orange come up short once again in first-ever matchup versus Mustangs

Syracuse leaves Texas with another blown second-half lead and a heartbreaking ending.

DALLAS, T.X. — In their first-ever matchup between both programs, the Syracuse Orange (12-18, 6-13) fell in another dramatic ending late Tuesday night, losing 77-75 on the road after Keon Ambrose-Hylton tipped up the game-winning shot for the SMU Mustangs (22-8, 13-6) with under three seconds left.

Similar to its last game, Syracuse took a double-digit lead and managed to hold it up until the middle of the second half before completely losing steam, with the Mustangs outscoring the Orange by 10 coming out of halftime. Syracuse’s second-half shooting struggles manifested once again, converting under 39% of its shots after the break compared to SMU’s nearly 61% field goal percentage.

J.J. Starling (10 points on 3/17 shooting and 6 assists) had one last chance to pull off some madness, but his three-point heave rattled in and out of the basket as Syracuse concludes the 2024-25 season 2-9 on the road.

Six players finished in double-figures for the Orange, led by 13 points from Lucas Taylor. Jaquan Carlos (12 points and 8 assists), Chris Bell (11 points), Eddie Lampkin (10 points and 9 rebounds) and Kyle Cuffe Jr. (10 points) also crossed the 10-point threshold. Likewise, SMU had a balanced scoring attack with Kario Oquendo (16 points), Chuck Harris (13 points), Samet Yigitoglu (12 points), Ambrose-Hylton (12 points), Boopie Miller (11 points) and Matt Cross (10 points).

Taylor got the Orange going on their very first possession, drilling a three from the top of the key. Syracuse began the game shooting 5/6 from the floor, highlighted by Taylor knocking down another jumper, Lampkin scoring inside and Starling knocking down consecutive shots.

SMU also started off relatively hot and converted half of its first eight shots, with three different players (Harris, Miller and Cross) all scoring early as Syracuse led 12-8 by the first media timeout.

Taylor would prove to have the early hot hand for Syracuse, knocking down back-to-back triples to get to a quick 11 points and put the Orange up 18-10, which forced SMU into calling an early timeout.

Starting at the 12-minute marker in the first half, momentum swung in favor of the Mustangs. During an SMU possession, Starling and Harris collided while the former attempted to steal the ball. He would head to the locker room after a decent pause in game action.

From here, SMU found its offense. After a basket from each of Carlos and Cuffe pushed the Orange’s lead to as high as 10 points (23-13), the senior duo of Oquendo and Ambrose-Hylton provided the spark for the Mustangs. SMU would tie the game at 23-23 after a quick 10-0 run and the Orange called timeout to try and regroup. Starling would return coming out of the break.

After a brief cold spell, Syracuse managed to discover its offense again. Petar Majstorovic scored inside off a nice dish from Starling, while Cuffe and Carlos would each convert around the basket once again. Bell also got on the scoreboard, drilling his first shot off a three from the top of the key to put the Orange back in front (34-31) with under four minutes to go until halftime.

Syracuse would end up closing the remaining minutes of the first half scoring 10 of the last 14 points. Miller got going again with a quick four points, but Bell picked up five points, Lampkin threw it down inside and Carlos capped off the half with a miraculous three off the glass as time expired to put the Orange up 44-36 heading into the second half.

At this point, Taylor still led the way in scoring for Syracuse, with Bell (8 points) and Carlos ( 7 points and 4 assists) right behind him. Oquendo also had 11 points, while three other SMU players had six (Miller, Harris and Cross). Syracuse would shoot 57% in the first half, include 7/13 for three.

Syracuse’s offense continued to steam on ahead to start the second half. After SMU trimmed the Orange’s lead down to five, Taylor converted on a difficult mid-range shot while Jyare Davis and Lampkin both scored inside to cap off a quick 6-0 scoring run. That stretch would put Syracuse up 11 points — the team’s largest lead up to this point in the game — and lead to the Mustangs calling for timeout less than three minutes into the half.

SMU quickly responded, continuing to attack the basket (particularly with Yigitoglu catching around the rim) getting and quickly slashing Syracuse’s lead once again. The Orange went over three and a half minutes without points before Naheem McLeod came off the bench and converted an and-one inside.

Syracuse managed to stay ahead, but the second half remained a back-and-forth of smaller scoring bursts. Once again, SMU trimmed the Orange’s lead before responding with a timely basket, this time another three from Bell to give Syracuse a nine-point cushion (60-51).

Cuffe drilled a three to at one point extend Syracuse’s lead to 12 points, but the Mustangs wouldn’t be counted out for. Over the course of around eight minutes, SMU slowly crawled its way back into the game after making seven straight shots and Syracuse struggling to get easy looks, going over three minutes without a basket. Just like that, Syracuse and SMU were tied with under 90 seconds left.

In a critical possession, Lampkin was fouled inside by Yigitoglu and managed to split a pair of free throws. SMU responded immediately with Ambrose-Hylton scoring off a dish from Miller, but like Lampkin, Carlos drew a foul and went 1/2 at the line to make the game even again at 75 with 17 seconds to go.

With SMU having the ball, Syracuse got the stop, but it couldn’t complete the possession. Ambrose-Hylton saved the day for the Mustangs and helped hand the Orange their fifth loss in their last six games. It was also the first time SMU won a conference game this year trailing at halftime.

Syracuse will return to the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday night to face the Virginia Cavaliers before traveling down to Greensboro for the ACC Tournament.