The Syracuse Orange men's basketball team won its first exhibition game of the preseason schedule with an 81-76 victory the Siena Saints on Sunday afternoon at MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y.

Our own Brady Farkas offered his takeaways from the victory, which also included why this game felt like a homecoming affair for multiple people in the Orange basketball program. 

Farkas also mentioned the lack of playing time for sophomore guard Kiyan Anthony, who logged only eight minutes in the contest. And that is something that is on the mind of SU fans as well.

So, Anthony only played eight minutes, but he was a regular in former head coach Adrian Autry's lineup a year ago, seeing action in 29 games.

The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 8 points a game in his debut season.

The Orange added multiple guards in the offseason, including Garwey Dual, Ryan Moesch and Aiden Tobiason. Tobiason did not play in this game because of a hamstring injury and Dual played 12 minutes. But Moesch saw significant time, as did Mark Marano, also in his first year with the program.

No. Anthony, along with his teammate Sadiq White Jr., are the most experienced players returning to the team this season.

Since both players announced their intentions to stay in Central New York through the coaching change, they have been regarded as core players for the program. McNamara has known of Anthony since before he signed with Syracuse, as McNamara was an assistant on the staff that recruited him. McNamara is likely using this preseason time to evaluate players who have yet to showcase their skills at the Power Four conference level. Some players, like Moesch and Marano, have yet to play a single minute of college basketball.  

For a cross-sport comparison, NFL players who are significant contributors rarely see comparable minutes in the preseason. The same can be said about the NBA exhibition season as well. The lack of playing time in exhibition contests does not seem like a perfect way to evaluate the rotation for later this fall.

It should also be noted that McNamara said Anthony is dealing with a little bit of knee tendinitis, and that also could have contributed to the minutes disparity.

Anthony will have one more opportunity to log action in the preseason when he and his teammates travel to Western New York to take on the Niagara Purple Eagles in Buffalo. Tip-off is set for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET at Keybank Center.

The regular season officially starts on Nov. 2 inside the JMA Wireless Dome when Syracuse hosts New Haven.