Syracuse hangs on to stun No. 13 Tennessee, marking Vols' second-straight loss

Tennessee’s big win over Houston feels like forever ago.

Syracuse shut down No. 13 Tennessee in the second half on Tuesday night and held on in the final seconds to pick up a huge 62-60 upset win. The victory, part of the ACC-SEC Challenge, is easily the Orange's biggest of the season. It also snapped a three-game losing skid, and marked the program's first win over Tennessee since Nov. 28, 1993.

Naturally, that sparked a huge court storm at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Tennessee struggled to pull away from Syracuse throughout the first half, and the Orange actually tipped-in a bucket right before the buzzer to take a two-point lead into the break. But finally, Syracuse completely shut the Vols down late in the second half to take control of the game.

The Orange held Tennessee without a made field goal for more than four full minutes down the stretch, which eventually set up a four-point lead with just two minutes left in the contest. But Jaylen Carey and Bishop Boswell broke that dry spell and each hit a quick bucket to tie the game back up with just 31 seconds left. Eventually, it was William Kyle who hit a single free throw to put Syracuse back in the lead, which set up one final shot for the Vols.

Ja'Kobi Gillespie caught an inbounds pass in the corner with just nine seconds left and drove to the rim before throwing it into Carey, who had a good look at the rim from the middle of the lane. But his jumper was just off the mark and was quickly rebounded by the Orange, who held on and sealed their two-point win after tacking on another free throw.

Nate Kingz led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds, and J.J. Starling added 12 points. The Orange shot just 5-of-19 from the 3-point line as a group, though they limited Tennessee to just four made buckets from behind the arc to make up for it.

Syracuse now sits at 5-3 on the year with the win, which perhaps came at the perfect time for the program. The Orange struggled badly at the Players Era Festival last week. They all three games, including a 31-point blowout loss to No. 10 Iowa State on the third day, and failed to keep up with the Cyclones, Houston and Kansas in what was their first true test of the season. While it was just one win, the Orange have finally picked up a Quad 1 win on their fourth attempt. That should be a significant boost for them entering ACC play in the coming weeks.

Carey led Tennessee with 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Nate Ament added 11 points, but had seven of the team's 17 turnovers himself, and Gillespie had 10 points. Those two were the only Volunteers starters to hit double figures. Their 60 points were easily the fewest they've scored all season.

Tennessee knocked off then-No. 3 Houston in a thrilling battle at the Players Era Festival last week in Las Vegas. But that somehow did not earn the Vols a spot in the event’s championship game, and sent them into the third-place contest with Kansas. The Jayhawks then handed the Vols their first loss of the season after rallying back from a double-digit hole in the second half.

The schedule isn’t going to get any easier for Tennessee, either. The Vols will take on No. 14 Illinois up next on Saturday, and then host No. 6 Louisville next week. If this losing skid gets out of hand, they may enter SEC play in a pretty rough position — which isn't something many thought would be the case just a week ago.