Syracuse Basketball: Adrian Autry proud of team for gutsy win amid a 'tough' situation

It's proven an emotional last week or so for the Syracuse basketball program, including players, coaches and staff members.

Last week, the Orange lost two Atlantic Coast Conference encounters on the road. First, the 'Cuse fell at Boston College by five points after holding a first-half lead and allowing the Eagles to go on a massive run to break the game open.

Then, last Saturday night, Syracuse basketball was awful on both ends of the floor, getting trounced at Wake Forest. After that disaster, head coach Adrian Autry laid into his players, calling their performance "unacceptable," while apologizing to the 'Cuse fan base and Syracuse University.

If that wasn't enough already, this past Tuesday, word came out via social media that junior forward Benny Williams had been dismissed from the program. Williams' once-promising SU career came to an end, and that was after he got suspended from the team prior to the 2023-24 season getting underway, leading to him missing a couple of games at this term's onset.

While Williams wasn't playing a ton of minutes to date in 2023-24, his presence will be missed among the squad's big men, especially as it pertains to the glass. What's more, the current 'Cuse roster doesn't have any seniors, and Williams had been one of three juniors within the Orange's line-up.

However, the other two juniors were transfers into the program, meaning that Williams had been a member of the Syracuse basketball program longer than anyone else on the 2023-24 roster. So that was pretty devastating news to me.

Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry credits his players for their poise in defeating Louisville.

The day after Williams' dismissal, the 'Cuse had to regroup after dealing with all of this in recent days. Syracuse basketball hosted Louisville on Wednesday evening, and while the Cardinals have a poor record this stanza, they did just knock off Florida State last weekend.

It was a crazy, back-and-forth affair on Wednesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange defense continued to struggle of late, but the 'Cuse offense came alive.

And Syracuse basketball players, despite heavy hearts and tons of emotions that they've been dealing with lately, gutted out a two-point win, earning praise from their head coach, who only a few days earlier ripped them pretty good.

In his post-game press conference following the triumph over Louisville, Autry didn't want to discuss Williams too much, but he did offer some thoughts about his players' response against the Cardinals, as they faced adversity and handled it well.

Autry said he was "proud of my team today because these last couple of days have been emotional" for his players and the Orange staff. "I give those guys all the credit," he said, mentioning that it's a "tough" situation.

Autry noted that it's "unfortunate" what happened with Williams, adding in part, "We want the best for him. Sometimes things don’t work out."

In a story by Mike Waters of Syracuse.com, sophomore forward Chris Bell, who poured in a career-high 30 points versus Louisville, said, "With Benny’s situation, we support him. We miss him."

Sophomore guard J.J. Starling, who has played at a high level in recent games for the 'Cuse, said, "It’s been tough, obviously, but we kinda grew stronger together. We know now it’s just us. We’re looking forward to having that mentality going on for the rest of the season."

It wasn't pretty, that's for sure, but the Syracuse basketball roster came together and took care of business against the Cardinals. Now the Orange (15-8, 6-6 in the ACC) is set to host Clemson and former SU guard Joe Girard III on Saturday afternoon.

Autry added that the 'Cuse being able to score a success, even when the team's defense was sub-par again, "showed a lot of character." I totally agree with the Syracuse basketball head coach.