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Syracuse storms court after upsetting No. 13 Tennessee after dramatic end to second half

Chandler Vesselsby: Chandler Vessels12/03/25ChandlerVessels

Another ranked opponent went down Tuesday evening in college basketball as Syracuse took down No. 13 Tennessee in an ACC/SEC Challenge game. The Orange got some late game heroics from William Kyle, who was fouled with 13.8 seconds to go and sent to the line for a pair of free throws with the game tied.

Although he missed the first, he made the second to give Syracuse a 61-60 lead. The Vols still had their opportunity to close things out with a win on the ensuing possession, but a shot attempt from Jaylen Carey fell short.

That led to Tennessee fouling the Orange again with 0.5 seconds remaining, and they again would make just one of two free throw attempts. That gave the Vols one last shot as they chucked the ball the length of the court and got it in the hands of Nate Ament, who got a layup up that missed.

Fans in Syracuse stormed the court after the big win in what is a college basketball tradition. You can check out the scene below.

The victory also marked the first win for Syracuse against Tennessee since 1993. Nate Kingz led the charge for the Orange to finish with 19 points, all of which he scored in the second half, and seven rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting.

It was a tightly contested game all evening long with neither team leading by more than nine points. The game stayed within one possession for the entirety of the final 10 minutes.

Syracuse held a 32-30 advantage at halftime and later increased that advantage to as much as 50-41 to start the second half. However, Tennessee would go on a 10-0 ran after that to retake the lead with 7:33 remaining.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Orange, which dropped games against Kansas, Iowa State and Houston at the Players Era Festival last week. They also improved to 4-0 on their home court, continuing to defend JMA Wirless Dome.

Syracuse earned the win in spite of the fact that it was without leading scorer Donnie Freeman, who suffered a foot injury on Nov. 18 and has not played since. The Orange improved to 5-3 on the young season and move on to play Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 11.