Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse basketball team takes on the California Golden Bears at 7 p.m., Wednesday in the JMA Wireless Dome.
The game will air on ESPNU.
See in-game team and individual stats here.
Note: Refresh this page throughout Syracuse’s game vs. Cal to see the latest updates
Final: Syracuse 107, Cal 100
Syracuse showed grit that should encourage the team and boost morale in the locker room. The Orange played a team desperate for a win to remain on the NCAA Tournament bubble and showed it had the most endurance between the two teams.
Free throw issues and bad three-point shooting persisted for Syracuse, but Adrian Autry’s team found a way to win in what have been troubling times for the Orange.
Syracuse had played in two overtime games before tonight, resulting in losses to Houston at the Players’ Era Festival and a loss at Boston College.
The Orange showed that a relentless effort to get to the basket can give it a path to compete in the ACC. But that only worked because the Orange ran Cal off the three-point line without sacrificing its interior defense. In fact, Syracuse blocked nine Cal shots.
With Southern Methodist, No. 4 Duke and No. 11 North Carolina awaiting the Orange, Wednesday served as a much-needed win for a desperate Orange team. The win moved Syracuse into 10th place in the ACC at a point in the year that everyone is jockeying for better position in their conference tournaments.
Syracuse returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. against SMU (17-7, 6-5 ACC). The game will be televised on The CW Network.
Overtime
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 104, Cal 100, with :18.5 remaining in 2OT
Chris Bell had a chance to come up big in his former home after being fouled on a three-point attempt. But he made 2-of-3 to keep this at a two-possession game.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 102, Cal 98, with :32 remaining in 2OT
This game looked like it was over until John Camden hit a tough three. William Kyle III has cramped up and, once again, Syracuse will have to make free throws to put this game away.
Syracuse is clearly the team with more energy remaining in this one.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 96, Cal 93, with 2:21 remaining in 2OT
There have been 28 lead changes and 14 ties in this game. But Cal has run out of gas. Without Justin Pippen, Dai Dai Ames has been a one-man show, which has been easy for the Syracuse defense to stop.
The fatigued Bears also don’t have an answer for the frontcourt duo of William Kyle III and Donnie Freeman.
Kyle and Nait George both have double-doubles for the Orange.
DOUBLE OVERTIME: Syracuse 90, Cal 90
A missed free throw from Nate Kingz and second-chance points from Milos Ilic have caused five more minutes of free basketball at the JMA Dome.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 90, Cal 89, with :09 remaining in overtime
Nait George split his free throws and Ames made a step-back jumper to keep this game alive. Once again, it’ll come down to free throws for the Orange.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 89, Cal 87, with :20 remaining in overtime
Syracuse has made its last four shots and has gotten back-to-back stops on Ames. If Syracuse can make two free throws here, this game may be finished.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 83, Cal 82, with 2:11 remaining in overtime
Another power surge has caused a pause in the game.
Justin Pippen has fouled out for Cal, placing more pressure on Ames and John Camden. But the Bears have had now answer for William Kyle III.
If the Orange can keep feeding Kyle and Donnie Freeman they’re in good position. However, those two have shot a combined 30% from the free throw line.
Syracuse as a team is at 56% from the free throw line, which is keeping it from pulling away in this one.
Second Half
OVERTIME: Syracuse 78, Cal 78
Free basketball at the Dome!
Mark Madsen put the ball into Ames’ hands to win this game for Cal, and he was smothered by the Syracuse defense.
The last time the Orange went to overtime, it lost to Boston College to start this down spiral of losing.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 78, Cal 78, with :22.3 remaining in the second half
J.J. Starling picked up his dribble and traveled on what could be Syracuse’s final possession of the game.
This game has had 11 ties and 22 lead changes.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 78, Cal 78, with :39.6 remaining in the second half
Dai Dai Ames may have gotten away with a hook, but he got past George for a layup to tie this one up.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 78, Cal 76, with :56.8 remaining in the second half
Nait George just made his first three of the night, and it was his biggest shot of the game. He’s up to 11 points, but he also has four fouls.
SCORE UPDATE: Cal 74, Syracuse 73, with 1:47 remaining in the second half
Syracuse is shooting 65% from the free throw line. They’re called “free” for a reason. Someone has to knock some down for the Orange to win this one.
SCORE UPDATE: Cal 72, Syracuse 70, with 3:54 remaining in the second half
Syracuse may end this game with two players posting double-doubles. William Kyle II is up to 12 points and 12 rebounds while Nait George is at eight points and nine assists.
When George is attacking the basket, things are opening up for the Orange.
However, Cal has made six of its last eight shots. Syracuse cannot allow the Bears to heat up again. John Camden is up to four made threes, and former Syracuse forward Chris Bell has made three shots from beyond the arc.
Mark Madsen is in a tight spot though. Justin Pippen is up to four fouls, which may eliminate Cal’s best ball handler next to Dai Dai Ames.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 65, Cal 64, with 6:52 remaining in the second half
Dai Dai Ames has come to life. Syracuse is allowing him to get to his spots and rise up for buckets. He has almost single-handedly willed the Bears back into this game.
Syracuse’s offense hasn’t slowed down, though. The Orange is still shooting better than 50% from the field, but Cal’s offense found its rhythm again.
In response, Syracuse has fallen back into its 2-3 zone. After making five of its first 10 threes, Cal has missed seven of its last nine.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 54, Cal 51, with 11:12 remaining in the second half
This game has not been delayed, yet. Scoreboard issues have persisted in the JMA Dome thanks to short power outages being caused by the current snowstorm.
Syracuse really has a homecourt advantage, now. This game changed as soon as the outages began.
But the true difference in this game has been interior scoring. Syracuse has 38 points in the paint, which is 14 more than Cal has.
Cal has shown it can run many sets to get shooters open, but it won’t mean a thing without rim protection.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 52, Cal 47, with 12:41 remaining in the second half
Syracuse has changed the momentum of this game. An 8-0 run has given the Orange the lead. Syracuse has made its last six shots while Cal has missed its last four.
Cal’s drought currently stands at 124 seconds without a bucket. The Bears have missed five of their last seven threes while Syracuse has climbed to 52% shooting from the field.
SCORE UPDATE: Cal 47, Syracuse 46, with 14:16 remaining in the second half
Cal is not going to let Donnie Freeman be a factor in this game. He has been double-teamed every time he catches the ball, and it has resulted in three turnovers.
Syracuse’s remaining opponents will see that on film and will be wise to implement that. Adrian Autry and the staff will have to go over some film with Freeman to teach him how to see the floor immediately on the catch-and-face-up.
But for the rest of this game, Freeman’s catches need to come in the high post or in the restricted area to minimize room for error.
To make things worse, Syracuse has missed its last 12 three-point attempts. Syracuse has found success in dump-off passes and alley-oops off in the high screen-and-roll, though.
First Half
HALFTIME: Syracuse 35, Cal 35
It’s no secret that Syracuse has lost six of its last seven games, but Syracuse doesn’t look like a team ready to pack it up for the year.
The Orange went from a stagnant, turnover-heavy offense to a lockdown defense in the final four minutes of the first half. Syracuse pressured Cal’s ball handlers and prevented the Bears from getting into their actions.
Cal’s backcourt of Ames and Pippen has combined for 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. As long as Syracuse keeps those two in check in the second half, the Orange will have a chance to win this game.
However, three-point shooting either has to improve or be abandoned in the second half. Syracuse is shooting an awful 19% from long range. But its 22 points in the paint shows how efficient the Orange has been when getting to the basket.
If Syracuse can continue its success driving to the range, that can create more open threes, though. The Orange went from assisting on four of their first six field goals to assisting on just two of the next eight.
There is still work to do for Syracuse. Cal is shooting 50% from three. Syracuse will have to return to its early priority of running the Bears off the three-point line if it’s going to win this game.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 35, Cal 35, with :01.8 remaining in the first half
Cal hasn’t scored in more than three minutes. Meanwhile, Syracuse has made four of its last five baskets to tie the game at 35. In this span, Cal has turned the ball over three times and undone all of its good work prior to this point.
SCORE UPDATE: California 33, Syracuse 29, with 2:34 remaining in the first half
Cal is up to nine points from six Syracuse turnovers. Syracuse is struggling to gain separation off the ball, leading to easy steals in the passing lane and transition buckets for the Bears. Mark Madsen’s team has even begun trapping Syracuse on the catch in the halfcourt.
Nait George and Donnie Freeman are up to two turnovers each for the Orange. To go with its ball security issues, Syracuse is shooting just 20% from three. Cal is up to 50%.
SCORE UPDATE: California 24, Syracuse 23, with 7:31 remaining in the first half
While Adrian Autry will be happy if Syracuse finishes this game with 55.5% of its baskets coming from assists, he won’t be happy with nearly every assist being followed by a turnover.
Cal has only scored five points from Syracuse’s four turnovers, but the Orange can’t repeat the same mistakes from the Virginia loss. The Bears have also begun to sprinkle in some zone, but it hasn’t stopped Syracuse from getting downhill.
John Camden has gotten going for Cal. He’s up to a game-high eight points and has made two threes already.
SCORE UPDATE: Syracuse 17, California 14, with 11:34 remaining in the first half
Syracuse is mixing it up on defense, showing Cal some man-to-man looks to go with the zone. But Cal has been able to get to the rim when Syracuse goes man.
William Kyle III has also gotten warmed up for the Orange. His touching the ball has resulted in two easy baskets at the rim.
Cal’s paint defense has looked suspect. Syracuse’s ability to run the Bears off the three-point line has enabled the Orange to settle for twos and take the lead.
Freshman Kiyan Anthony, who earned a DNP against Virginia last Saturday, checked into the game at the 12:26 mark.
SCORE UPDATE: California 8, Syracuse 6, with 15:52 remaining in the first half
Syracuse started the game on a high note. It’s 2-3 zone resulted in a J.J. Starling steal. Starling then turned it into a corner three out of the Orange’s motion offense.
Neither offense has looked great, but Cal hasn’t been afraid to shoot Syracuse out of the zone. Both teams are shooting 40% from the field and have made two three-pointers each.
If Adrian Autry gets the Orange into some secondary actions, Syracuse can increase its production.
Pregame
Syracuse athletics will enter a new era this summer. The university announced Wednesday that athletic director John Wildhack will retire on July 1 after 10 years on the job.
The announcement comes in the midst of another disappointing basketball season that continues tonight against California (17-7, 5-6 ACC).
Fans on social media have called for the firing of head basketball coach Adrian Autry, who has posted a 47-42 record since replacing Jim Boeheim in 2023. Wildhack said Wednesday that he owes it to Autry to let him finish out this season.
It is still, however, unclear whether Wildhack or his replacement will hire Autry’s replacement if the former four-year starter is relieved of his duties this spring.
Syracuse’s athletics office will undergo several changes this year as it will also replace departing chancellor Kent Syverud.
The Orange’s new administration will face the challenge of increasing an NIL budget that is believed to be in the middle of the pack in the ACC.
As for tonight, Syracuse has to worry about preventing a three-game losing streak. The Orange is in the midst of a six-game stretch against some of the ACC’s top 10 teams.
The Cal backcourt of Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen will enter the JMA Dome determined to get the Bears back to .500 in ACC play.
After a weak non-conference slate that was headlined by a win against rival UCLA, Cal needs as good an ACC finish as possible.
For Syracuse (13-11, 4-7), its four double-digit scorers need to get momentum going to save team morale and provide some hope for an ACC tournament run.