SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Syracuse fans may have been holding their breath when 42% foul shooter William Kyle III stepped to the foul line with 13.8 seconds to go and the game tied at 60 against No. 13 Tennessee.
But Syracuse coach Adrian Autry and teammate J.J. Starling had complete confidence that the 6-foot-9 center would come through. Kyle, for his part, wasn’t really thinking about it all that much.
Kyle, who had 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, missed his first attempt but sank the second and the Orange (5-3) beat the Vols (7-2) 62-60.
It was Syracuse’s first win over Tennessee since Nov. 28, 1993.
“One free throw. That’s all we needed. Just one,” Autry said. “I looked at him (after the miss). He didn’t look nervous at all. He’s a very confident kid. He stepped right in and made the next one. … The more he gets to the foul line, the more comfortable he’ll get but that was huge today.”
Asked if he was holding his breath when his teammate stepped to the line, Starling, who hit two big shots down the stretch, said no way.
“No. That’s disrespectful. That’s my teammate. As soon as he stepped up, I knew he was going to knock it down,” Starling said.
“I mean, I wasn’t really thinking,” Kyle said. “I wasn’t necessarily nervous to go to the line. We put a lot of work in every day. I was just thinking about my routine, and I just went up there, a make or a miss, just live with the result and then luckily, not luckily, but was able to knock down the second one.”
After consecutive losses to Houston, Kansas and Iowa State in last week’s Players Era tournament, Tuesday’s win was much needed. Syracuse fans knew the importance of the game and responded by storming the court.
“It’s amazing,” Starling said. “To be able to have our work really pay off, especially in a big one like that and to do it in the community we have, it was big time.”
Even though the court storming will cost Syracuse $50,000, Autry hopes this won’t be the last.
“We want to have more of those,” Autry said. “Those are good things. When they’re storming the court that’s a good sign.”
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