Kiyan Anthony’s Syracuse Orange lost 59-72 against the Virginia Cavaliers, and the shooting guard had to sit on the bench and watch it all unfold. Shockingly, Kiyan didn’t get a single minute on the floor throughout the game.
Before the Virginia game, he had played in each of the 23 games that Syracuse had played this season. He is averaging over 19 minutes per game for 8.9 points on 41.6% shooting from the field.
Coach Adrian Autry’s decision not to bring Kiyan off the bench baffled fans as they watched Syracuse get humiliated by Virginia, especially in the second half. After the game coach was asked about this decision.
Autry was asked if Kiyan had any injury concern which led to him sitting out. He said that the guard is healthy and there was no such concern. Autry made that decision on his own and kept him on the bench.
“No injury concern, it was just my decision,” he said. “This is a physical team, an experienced team, and I just…it was just my decision, nothing else. No injuries or anything else like that.”
Autry stood by his decision despite the disastrous result. He stated that there should be no narratives about Kiyan sitting out because it truly was his call to make, and he took that chance.
“It’s no narratives about any of this stuff, man. I just made the decision. That was just my decision that I made today,” he added.
This was Syracuse’s 11th loss in the season and its second consecutive. They have won just 13 games so far. Overall, the state of Syracuse basketball has been terrible this year, and even Carmelo Anthony had something to say about it recently.
Carmelo Anthony Commented on Syracuse’s Loss Against North Carolina
Last week, Syracuse played the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill. Coming off a strong win against Notre Dame, they were expected to dominate against UNC.
Syracuse started slow, trailing 32-46 at halftime. They played a balanced game after that, but the early struggles proved too much to recover from. After the game, Carmelo Anthony commented on a clip from the game on Instagram.
Melo wrote “SMFH” on a Syracuse video, sparking conversations about his unhappiness with how the team played. Many people tried to tie that to Autry’s decision to bench Kiyan. However, the coach made it clear that his decision wasn’t influenced by anything.
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