Everyone needs to be at a level five in ACC play.
The Syracuse University men's basketball team captured a decisive 77-48 win over Stonehill on Monday night at the JMA Wireless Dome. Next up? The beginning of Atlantic Coast Conference play on Dec. 31 against Clemson.
Through the entirety of the non-conference schedule, head coach Adrian Autry has spoken about his team's need to play with a "level-five" energy, and he said this group needs the same effort from the fans in league play.
Autry was asked, somewhat jokingly, about the fans ability to hit the "level-five" energy, and here was his fun response:
"You know, every now and then, you know, and I will say this as we move forward: this team is going to need the fans, right? For them to play at a level five, we need to make this place loud, in particular our next game. We need the fans to be at a level five because our team needs that. They get energy off of that, and that's going to be big moving forward in ACC play. You know, these guys are gassing out. We need our fans, we need our students, we need everybody to come into this building and be at a level five. And I'm sure that they'll see, they'll get that reciprocated with this group of guys."
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What else to watch for in league play
--The Orange are set to return big man Donnie Freeman from injury in the ACC opener. He's missed nine games with a right foot injury, and he currently leads the team in scoring at 17.8 ppg.
--Syracuse is among the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country. They entered play on Monday ranked 364th out of 365 Division I teams in free-throw percentage, and then went just 14-of-29 against Stonehill.
--The growth of of young players like Kiyan Anthony, Sadiq White Jr. and Tyler Betsey. All three have had big moments in the non-conference, but all three have also had inconsistencies. For instance, Anthony scored just four points on Monday, while Betsey had zero.
Also on campus
The Syracuse women are 11-1 right now and off to a fantastic start. They've won six straight games and will resume ACC play on Dec. 28 when they host Duke at the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET. SU is 1-0 in the conference right now, having already beaten SMU.
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