The Syracuse University men's basketball team moved to 6-3 on the season by virtue of a 71-63 win over St. Joseph's on Thursday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The win improved the Orange to 6-3 and 5-0 at home, while the loss dropped the Hawks to 6-4 and 0-4 on the road.

Because of poor weather in the area, attendance was sparse. Only 12,584 reportedly saw the victory.

Here's what you need to know:

Betsey leads the way

Three freshman see significant minutes on this team (Tyler Betsey, Sadiq White and Kiyan Anthony), and Betsey is pulling to the head of the class. The sharpshooter had 16 points in 21 minutes, going 3-of-5 from three-point range. He also pulled down three rebounds.

He was one of five Syracuse players in double-figures.

Inside the box score

--Syracuse, who entered play as the second-worst free-throw shooting team in the nation, continued to struggle at the stripe, going just 15-of-28 (54 percent).

--The Hawks, who entered play as the best free-throw shooting team in the nation, went 18-of-27 (67 percent).

--Syracuse shot 43 percent from three (6-of-14), while St. Joseph's was 19 percent (5-of-26).

--Syracuse was out-rebounded by 10 (44-to-34), but they committed four fewer turnovers (14-to-10).

--The Orange had 36 points in the paint, compared to 30 for the Hawks.

--Nate Kingz (14), William Kyle III (12), JJ Starling (11), and Naithan George (10) were the other Orange players in double-figures. Kyle also had 11 rebounds.

--For as well as he shot from deep, Betsey was just 1-of-6 at the foul line.

--Deuce Jones had 18 points for the visitors.

Also key

Syracuse won this game without Donnie Freeman, who missed his fifth straight game with a right foot injury. While he was listed as a game-time decision, it sounds like there's a real chance he isn't back until conference play, which begins on Dec. 31.

Room for improvement

The free-throw shooting, of course, remains a problem. Beyond that? The other freshman (White and Anthony) had just a combined eight points, with White having two and Anthony having six. While the production from the trio (24) is acceptable, Adrian Autry will look for more consistency out of his youngest players.

Up next

Syracuse will be home again on Saturday afternoon when they host Hofstra at 4 p.m. ET. We'll have more live coverage from Brady Farkas, so please follow him on social media @RefuseToLosePod.

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