Syracuse men’s basketball earned its first ACC win on Tuesday night, doing it without Donnie Freeman. Syracuse says the starting forward is day-to-day with a lower right leg injury. Freeman was wearing a walking boot on the right foot in the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday.

Coach Adrian Autry said after the game that he suffered the injury over the weekend against Florida State. 

“Donnie does a lot for us," Autry said after the win over Georgia Tech. "He’s our leading rebounder and he’s one of our best three-point shooters. That’s the one thing that we missed is having Donnie out there. He’s a guy that can knock down a three-pointer or two. I thought we missed that today.”

Freeman is second on the Orange with 13.4 points per game (PPG), and leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 a game.

Jyare Davis, a senior transfer from Delaware, replaced him in the starting lineup and put up 8 points and 9 rebounds in a season-high 32 minutes. 

“Jyare's a veteran," Autry said after the game. "They both have been productive for us. Jyare is a guy that I think if he gets more minutes, he’ll produce more.”

Davis is averaging 8.4 PPG in his first season with the Orange. Last year at Deleware, he averaged 17.1 PPG with 7.5 rebounds a game. 

Until Freeman returns, someone is going to need to pick up the scoring lift. J.J. Starling and Eddie Lampkin are the stalwarts, but Syracuse needs Chris Bell’s recent emergence to stick. In two games since moving to the bench, Bell has scored 31 points and is 5-for-9 from the three-point area. 

“It helps me stop thinking," Bell said. "Just being able to come in the game and not thinking about the first four or five minutes and when I'm going to the bench. First five, I'm actually sitting down, so I just get to come in and play. I feel like it’s helping me a lot, just going out there, being aggressive and just being myself.”

Syracuse (7-8, 1-3 ACC) travels to Boston College (9-6, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday. The Orange are looking to win their second straight conference game. The Eagles are coming off an 85-64 loss at Georgia Tech.