Orange Fall to UConn in Exhibition Opener

Tuesday, October 13

Uncasville, Conn.

7 PM

Syracuse University

0-0,0-0ACC

UConn (exhibition)

0-0,0-0Big East

Team	1	2	F
Syracuse	26	26	52
UConn	31	41	72

10/13/2026 9:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Syracuse opened the exhibition portion of is 2026-27 season against defending NCAA runnerup and the Huskies emerged with a 72-52 triumph at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday night.

Sophomore Sadiq White Jr. led the way offensively for the Orange, scoring a team-best 17 points, which included a 6-of-9 (.667) shooting effort from the field. Na'jai Hines was the difference maker for the Huskies, notching 17 points and eight rebounds.

How the Game Was Decided
Leading 46-37 midway through the second half, UConn used a 15-3 run over the next 4:26 to stretch its advantage to 61-40 with less than seven minutes remaining. Junior County hit a pair of 3-pointers and Hines added four points during the run.

Orange and Huskies Trade Runs
The two teams combined for nine turnovers in the first five minutes of the contest. White cashed in two free throws for the Orange's first points, and added a fast-break layup off a Garwey Dual steal to make it 4-1.

The Huskies tied the game at four with a 3-pointer at the 15-minute mark. The triple sparked a 9-2 UConn run over the next five minutes. The Huskies built a 13-6 edge at the 11-minute mark.

Syracuse answered with a 7-0 run, scoring five of the seven points at the free-throw line. Kiyan Anthony, Luke Wilson and Amarri Monroe all converted from the stripe before Wilson's layup tied the game at 13-13 with 8:32 left. The Orange defense forced UConn into 10 straight missed shots within the five-minute stretch. The Huskies answered by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to build a 23-15 lead.

Triples Tie It
Syracuse closed the gap with an 11-3 run in three minutes. White and Gavin Doty drained 3-pointers on assists from Ryan Moesch, and White hit another off an Anthony feed. A driving layup by Anthony knotted the game at 26 with 1:40 left, marking the fourth deadlock of the opening frame.

UConn finished on a 5-0 run as they hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 left. Nils Machowski then tipped in a missed layup as time expired for a 31-26 edge at the intermission.

Huskies Pull Away in Second Half
Doty's jumper on the opening possession trimmed the deficit to 31-28, but UConn answered with six straight points, getting a 3-pointer and three free throws to lead 37-28. Later in the second half, UConn pushed the lead past 20, using a 9-0 burst to stretch the advantage from 52-40 to 61-40 with seven minutes remaining.

UConn finished the second period shooting 12-of-25 (.480) from the floor, including 4-of-10 (.400) on its 3-point attempts. The Huskies committed just two turnovers in the half and scored 12 points off Syracuse's seven miscues.

The Orange outrebounded UConn 21-18 over the final 20 minutes, with Wilson pulling down eight rebounds in the half.

Notable Numbers

First-year SU coach Gerry McNamara utilized 12 players in the squad's initial outing.
Syracuse committed 16 turnovers and UConn turned them into 19 points.
UConn won the second-chance points battle, 18-7.
The Huskies shot 23-of-56 (.411) from the floor and 8-of-20 (.400) from 3-point range. Syracuse hit 15-of-49 (.306) overall and 4-of-19 (.211) from deep.
Syracuse's bench accounted for 30 of the team's 52 points.
Amarri Monroe was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, and finished with nine points in just 19 minutes.
Luke Wilson led all Orange players with nine rebounds, including five of them on the offensive glass.

Up Next
The Orange head to Albany, N.Y., to take on Siena in their second exhibition on Sunday, Oct. 18. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

Syracuse Tickets
Season and individual tickets are available at cuse.com/feature/basketball-tickets

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow the team on X (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (cuse_mbb).