Even if it seemed like a rollercoaster season at times, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team showed signs of progress as first-year head coach Adrian Autry worked to lay the foundation for the program’s next chapter.
Syracuse reached 20 wins for the first time in half a decade last season, despite facing a midseason rash of injuries and surreal expectations on Autry following in the footsteps of veteran coach Jim Boeheim. That included an 11-9 record against the ACC, Syracuse’s best record against the conference since 2013-14 (the team’s first year in the ACC).
Although the Orange missed the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, Autry’s freshman year was certainly one to remember. Here are some of the most iconic moments from Orange’s first season with Autry:
November 6 (1-0): Starting on the right note
Led by 20 points from Judah Mintz, five players scored in double figures as the Orange handily defeated New Hampshire 83-72 in Autry’s first regular-season game as coach.
November 14 (3-0): a historic comeback
Talk about a dark horse performance for Orange that seems like it happened a long time ago.
Earlier in the season, Autry’s third game was against a Colgate program that the Orange had lost to by double figures in consecutive seasons. At one point, the mid-November matchup turned ugly when Syracuse trailed by as many as 24 points (54-30) with just over 16 minutes left.
Miraculously, the Orange rallied and ultimately completed the second-largest comeback in ACC history, beating Colgate 79-75 at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Nov. 28 (5-2): Flurry of second-half goals vs. LSU
Given Syracuse’s tough (but expected) stretch on Maui, the Orange needed to play with a sense of urgency in the Dome for the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. And they responded, they did.
Mintz scored a career-high 33 points (9/16 from the field, 13/15 from the foul line), as the Orange outscored the LSU Tigers 47-29 in the second half. Syracuse won 80-57.
December 5-17 (8-3, 0-1) — La Naranja begins to have a streak
After a brutal 22-point loss to Virginia, Syracuse responded again with back-to-back double-digit wins against the trio of Cornell (home), Georgetown (road), and Oregon (at Sioux Falls).
Notably, in the middle of this stretch was the Orange’s 99th overall matchup against the Hoyas, the first with Autry and new Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley at the helm.
December 30 (10-3, 1-1): Depth shines in 2023 final
Syracuse enjoyed a four-game winning streak heading into its second game of the ACC season and the end of 2023. Despite trailing by eight points at halftime, Syracuse scored 51 points and outscored the Pittsburgh Panthers by 16 points in the second half.
In the 81-73 win, the Orange bench produced 52 points, the most in program history since December 2016. Quadir Copeland led the way with a career-high 22 points at the time, ultimately earning the Syracuse’s first (and only) ACC Player. Week of the season.
January 16 (12-5, 3-3) – Surviving the Pit (of Doom)
The winter turned bitter for Syracuse after big losses to Duke (86-66) and North Carolina (103-67) made the future look difficult. As a constant theme of the season, frustrating losses were followed by solid and impressive victories.
Syracuse bounced back from its 36-point loss to UNC with a double-digit win against Pitt, this time on the road. Considering the Panthers’ late-season run to sneak into the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the season sweep of Pitt was arguably Syracuse’s best accomplishment of the regular season.
January 20 (13-5, 4-3): Copeland calls the game against the U
I don’t want to be biased, but this was, to say the least, the most entertaining game of the season. Neither team led by more than eight points. Syracuse trailed by one at halftime and only outscored the U by four in the second half.
With less than 19 seconds left and the game tied 69-69, Syracuse ran an iso to Mintz on the right wing with Copeland on the opposite side. Mintz drove and forced help when Copeland jumped to the three-point line and scored the winning goal at the buzzer:
(Writer’s Note: While it had to be against my beloved Hurricanes, this was personally my best moment of the 2023-24 season.)
January 27 (14-6, 5-4): Mintz-Starling unlocked
After a momentum-killing 16-point loss to Florida State, the backcourt of Mintz and JJ Starling responded with arguably their best performance as a duo against NC State. Starling scored a season-high 26 points while Mintz finished with 20 points and 9 assists. Again, considering NC State’s eventual (and incredible) run in both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, it’s another impressive win for the Orange in retrospect.
February 13 (16-9, 7-7) – Down with the Tar Heels
Few expected Syracuse to beat UNC, even at home. The Orange entered the game with losses in three of their last four games (their only win: 94-92 over Louisville), and after the Tar Heels’ demolition of the Orange earlier this season, an upset seemed unrealistic. .
Syracuse proved that wrong. Syracuse’s offense scored an impressive 86 points against UNC en route to its first Keynote USA Top 10 win in five years.
February 24 (18-10, 9-8) — Holding your breath on “Jim Boeheim Day”
Syracuse faced a disastrous scenario after nearly blowing a 20-point halftime lead against Notre Dame. Considering the season-high attendance of more than 25,000 fans and Boeheim’s formal recognition, we’re glad Syracuse finished with a win.
March 5 (20-11, 11-9) — Postseason contention… almost
This was arguably the point in the season where Syracuse really felt closest to a long shot at making the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse won four straight games heading into the regular season finale against Clemson, and a win over the Tigers certainly would have made March more interesting.
March 13 (20-12, 11-9): A surprising conclusion in DC
Unfortunately, those were Syracuse’s best odds for the postseason, at least this year. Syracuse earned the No. 7 seed, but lost 83-65 to No. 11 NC State, which would go on its own magical run.
Now it’s your turn: what was your favorite moment from Autry’s first season as Orange coach?
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