LAS VEGAS, NV — The Syracuse Orange’s three-game run in the Sin City ends with the team suffering, by far and away, its biggest loss of the season so far. Syracuse (4-3) will be leaving the 2025 Players Era Festival winless after a 95-64 loss to the No. 15 Iowa State Cyclones (7-0) on Wednesday.
Similar to its first two games in the tournament, Syracuse battled close inside MGM Grand Garden Arena, at least for the first half. Hot three-point shooting led to the Orange going up as much as four and only
being down by one at halftime. However, Iowa State closed the door on Syracuse’s chances at pulling off the upset and then some in the second half. The Cyclones’ would outscore the Orange 60-30 after halftime, while their defense forced 19 Syracuse turnovers that led to 30 points for ISU.
Sadiq White Jr. (14 points on 6/7 shooting) led the Orange in scoring. He and J.J. Starling (10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists) were the only players for Syracuse to finish with double-digits in points. Other contributors included nine points from William Kyle and eight from each of Kiyan Anthony (3/8) and Tyler Betsey (3/14). Syracuse shot 39% for the game, compared to 59% for the Cyclones.
Five players would score at least 10 points for the Cycloces. Milan Momcilovic had a game-high 24 points (8/14 shooting, 6/10 from three), while Killyan Toure had 19.
Iowa State’s defense suffocated the Orange early on. The Cyclones were notably doubling on ball screens up top, forcing guards like Naithan George to pass over multiple defenders. Syracuse’s first four possessions resulted in two missed shots and a pair of turnovers, before a corner three from Sadiq White Jr. finally put the Orange on the board.
Syracuse only trailed 6-3 in the game’s first five minutes despite a 1/7 start from the field. After the first media timeout, its offense started to show some signs of life.
William Kyle capitalized on a tough score inside plus the and-one to tie the game back at six. The Orange also got a three from each of Kiyan Anthony and Luke Fennell, the later of whom was getting his first minutes for the team in Las Vegas. Syracuse would go up as much as four during this stretch, which also saw the Cyclones be held to no field goals for over four minutes. Three straight makes by each of Joshua Jefferson, Blake Buchanan and Toure would knot the game back at 14-14 with 11 minutes to go in the first half.
Then, momentum swung in favor of the Cyclones.
After White threw it down in transition off the lob pass from Anthony, a floater from Jamarion Batemon would start a 12-0 run for Iowa State. It would make three straight field goals and turn the Orange over four times in under two minutes. Threes from Momcilovic and Toure would lead to ‘Cuse suddenly falling back by 10 (28-18), forcing a timeout from coach Adrian Autry.
The Orange quickly stormed back, countering the Cyclones with a 10-0 run of their own thanks to the three-ball and another cold streak for ISU. George made one from the top of the key while Starling and Tyler Betsey connected on their looks from the wing to tie the game back at 28-28.
Syracuse would only be down by one (35-34) heading into halftime. No player for the Orange had more than six points (Betsey), but four had at least two field goals and another four made at least one in a balanced first-half performance offensively. Toure (12 points on 4/5 shooting) and Momcilovic (8 points, 2/4 from three) combined for 20 of the Cyclones’ 34 points at this point in the game.
However, coming out of the break, it didn’t take long for the Cyclones to take full command of the game the rest of the way.
Kingz would get the Orange on the board to start the second half with a driving layup. Over the next two and a half minutes, Iowa State was off to the races and Syracuse was playing catch up.
It began with Momcilovic’s third three of the game plus a pair of baskets from Jefferson, the second of which was a slam dunk off a steal to put the Orange down eight and forcing another timeout from Autry. Moments later, both Toure and Momcilovic would each connect from behind the arc on back-to-back possessions, ballooning the Cyclones lead to 14 (53-39).
The run eventually saw the Cyclones score 12 in a row and hold the Orange to no field goals for around four minutes of game time. With under a dozen minutes left in the game, Iowa State’s field goal percentage at jumped up all the way to 58%. Syracuse would be down as much as 17 during this stretch before White scored this tough basket around the rim.
That said, Iowa State continued to pour it on over the Orange as the second half progressed, with ‘Cuse at one moment falling behind by as much as 35 points (89-54) with still under five minutes left to go. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Syracuse was officially outscored by 30 points in the second half.
With the Players Era Festival now in the rear view mirror, the Orange will return back to Upstate New York for the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge. ’Cuse will have a fourth-straight chance to secure a win against a Q1 non-conference opponent when it faces the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday.
