Syracuse, NY – Donnie Freeman nearly led the Syracuse Orange to a comeback victory against the Clemson Tigers in his return to the lineup on Wednesday.
Freeman, who had missed Syracuse’s previous nine games with a lower leg injury, scored all 18 of his second-half points, but his potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds was off target and the Orange fell 64-61 at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Syracuse struggled to shoot most of the game and hampered its already inconsistent offense with 15 critical turnovers in the loss, the ACC opener for both teams.
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Syracuse Orange Mens Basketball 2025-26: Syracuse vs. Clemson
The Orange made just 40% of their field goal attempts as they fell to 9-5 on the season.
Freeman, a 6-9 sophomore, returned to the Orange lineup on Wednesday. Freeman struggled in the first half, missing all five of his field goal attempts.
In the second half, Freeman began to find his rhythm. He scored 18 points and was a big part of SU’s rally from a 43-33 deficit.
Syracuse pulled within 63-59 on Naithan George’s layup with 1:22 left. The Orange forced Clemson into a 5-second violation on the drive.
But Syracuse turned the ball over on a layup when Clemson intercepted Freeman’s pass to William Kyle.
Syracuse got the ball back and George dived on a slicing Freeman to pull the Orange within 63-61 with 42 seconds left.
Kyle then blocked Dillon Hunter’s drive out of bounds with 16.4 seconds left in the game and 4.3 seconds on the shot clock. Clemson took a timeout to set up the shot.
On the drive, the ball went under the basket to Clemson center Carter Welling. Freeman fouled him and sent Welling to the line, where he made the first but missed the second for a 64-61 lead.
Syracuse drove the ball upcourt, but Freeman’s game-tying 3-pointer pulled the iron and bounced away, ruining what would have been the Hollywood version of his comeback from injury.
Bad starts in both halves saw the Orange score eight. Syracuse struggled to break the game open as Clemson quickly took a 12-3 lead. The same was true at the start of the second half.
Syracuse trailed 29-28 at halftime, but the Orange went 2-for-8 from the floor and committed three turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half. A 7-0 run by Clemson gave the Tigers a 40-32 lead.
A minute later, Butta Johnson’s 3-pointer gave Clemson its largest lead of the game at 43-33.
Clemson jumped out to a 12-3 lead and forced Syracuse to play catch-up for most of the first half. The Orange committed six turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Orange trailed 23-15, but a 9-0 run capped by a three-pointer by Naithan George put Syracuse ahead 24-23.
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