The Syracuse University men's basketball team earned its third consecutive win on Tuesday night by taking down Florida State at the JMA Wireless Dome 94-86.

While the SU defense wasn't as buttoned up as head coach Adrian Autry would have liked, the Orange offense had another solid game, generating 83 points or more for the third straight contest.

A major reason for that? The play of point guard Naithan George. The transfer from Georgia Tech did his part to initiate the offense, scoring eight points and dishing out a game-high 13 assists.

He certainly caught the attention of FSU head coach Luke Loucks, who sung his praises after the game:

I really like this kid, George. Watching his film, as a former point guard myself and a former pass-first point guard, I have a lot of respect for the way he plays. He glues everything together. Obviously, Freeman is who he is. That kid is an absolute monster. But George really sets the tempo and the pace for those guys, specific to what you said in terms of their pace. They’re not the fastest team in the country by any means, but they’re opportunistic. A lot of that is from George’s feeling and reading of the game. He can push with the pass. He’s certainly a crafty passer. I don’t know how many assists—goodness, gracious, he had 13 assists tonight. And that's what you get from him. I didn’t realize he had 13 assists. That’s super impressive.

But he does set the tone offensively for those guys, and he’s a pretty pesky defensive player as well.

A transfer from Georgia Tech, George is a junior from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He's started each game for the Orange and is averaging 10.3 ppg and 5.8 assists per contest. Though he had just the eight points on Tuesday, he's been in double-figures in five of the last seven games, six of which are wins.

George and the Orange will be back in action on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. ET) against Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Eagles are 7-10 overall and 0-4 in league play, marking another "should-win" game for Syracuse.

SU is 12-5 overall and 3-1 inside conference play. They are trying to build a resume capable of getting to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020-21. 

The Syracuse women's basketball team is 14-3 and will host Cal on Thursday night at 6 p.m. ET.

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