Donnie Freeman scored 18 points in his return to the lineup and Brad Brownell was impressed.
Even though the Syracuse University men's basketball team lost its Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opener to Clemson on Wednesday afternoon, big man Donnie Freeman made quite the impression.
The sophomore, who had missed nine games with injury, returned to the lineup to score 18 points in total - all in the second half. Coming off the bench, he still played 28 minutes, going 5-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-6 at the foul line.
And he made quite the impression on Clemson head coach Brad Brownell, who sung his praises after the contest was over:
You know, he starts making threes like that, and it becomes really hard to guard him. It's another level. You know, he took some tough shots. I thought we guarded him well early and got him to shoot some tough ones. I'm sure he was a little nervous, which is normal, but once he saw one go in, it was, it was different the second half. And he's got the complete package. He can score around the basket, he can drive you, he can back you down, he can make shots over you. He drew some fouls. And then obviously, when he's starting to make threes, then it becomes really hard to guard a guy and act like that.
More on Freeman
The Washington D.C. native is leading the team in scoring at 17.8 ppg, and he's also averaging six rebounds. Maybe most importantly for Syracuse, he's an 81 percent free-throw shooter, which is noteworthy given that SU entered play as the worst free-throw shooting team in the nation.
They went 20-of-24 for the contest, which is excellent news for the Orange moving forward.
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Up next for SU
The Orange will be back in action on Jan. 6 when they take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET and that will be a big game for Naithan George and Ibrahim Souare, who played previously for the Yellow Jackets.
Also on campus
--The Syracuse women's basketball team will play another ACC contest on Thursday night (6 p.m. ET) when they host Florida State at the JMA Wireless Dome. The SU women are 11-2 overall, but are coming off a 20-point loss against Duke on Sunday. The Orange are 1-1 inside league play, having also beaten SMU earlier in the campaign.
--The transfer portal opens up on Friday in college football and like all teams, Syracuse is expected to be heavily affected. More than 20 SU players have already announced their intention to enter the portal.
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