Syracuse, N.Y. —Sometimes the best way to figure out the most important player on a basketball team is to see what you’ve got when they’re gone.

With SU’s leading scorer Donnie Freeman (17.8 ppg), unavailable in Las Vegas due to a lower-body injury, the question of who fills the void as the man for the Orange has not been filled.

Not yet.

On the contrary, Kansas was without projected No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson on Tuesday.

Jayhawks’ big man Flory Bidunga filled the top-dog role with 13 points and 14 rebounds against the Orange with Peterson out due to a hamstring issue.

SU’s natural answer to fill Freeman’s role is senior shooting guard JJ Starling, the Baldwinsville native and team captain who led SU in scoring last year with 17.8 points per game.

Starling scored 10 points against Kansas on Tuesday night on 3-of-11 shooting. He didn’t score against the Jayhawks until hitting a corner 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining in the first half.

Starling, who missed two games this season with a lower-body injury, was tied as SU’s second-leading scorer with 11 points against Houston on Monday night.

The issue with Starling being “the guy” right now is at the free throw line.

Starling is 4-of-12 at the charity stripe with a noticeable hitch in his free throw stroke so far this season.

Starling undoubtedly plays an important role on the Orange, but you can’t be the man if you’re going to draw whistles in crunch time and be an enigma at the free throw line.

Tyler Betsey has more of a direct role in filling Freeman’s role, along with freshman Sadiq White Jr. who has started in the two games Freeman has missed so far.

Betsey has led Syracuse in scoring in both games in Las Vegas with 16 and 12 points, respectively, against Houston and Kansas.

Betsey’s main attribute is his perimeter shooting, where he’s shot 8-of-18 against the Cougars and Jayhawks.

Betsey has been a key cog in the machine for the Orange offense, but it’d be hard to designate him with top gun status at this point coming off the bench.

White’s raw potential and athleticism have flashed. He can get to the to the rim with authority and attack on the defensive end, but he’s still a freshman in the traditional sense with some growing up to do.

It was intriguing to see freshman sensation Kiyan Anthony try to will himself into the top-dog role against Kansas.

The result was a 2-of-12 shooting night, including an 0-of-6 mark from beyond the arc, against the Jayhawks.

There was a bit of spot-on timing during the broadcast of Tuesday’s game when TNT’s terrific analyst Robbie Hummel was opining on how SU was running too much isolation on offense.

In that exact moment, Anthony dribbled for about six seconds, drove into the paint and promptly got stuffed by Bidunga.

Anthony’s enthusiasm and three-level offensive talents are appreciated, but he needs to take a deep breath and let the game come to him.

Autry also needs to tell Anthony that 3-point shots don’t all have to be shot from the logo.

SU point guard Naithan George is navigating a world where he facilitates the Orange offense vs. being the Orange offense.

George, who led the ACC with 6.5 assists per game at Georgia Tech last season, is shooting 5-of-17 in Vegas so far against Houston and Kansas with a total of six assists.

That said, George is a noticeable upgrade in almost every category from SU’s point guard situation a year ago with Jaquan Carlos.

The lob pass is back in a significant way in the Orange offense. George can push the floor and attack the rim.

I think he’ll be fine. He just hasn’t grasped full command of the Orange offense… yet.

So, who else is on the list here?

Nate Kingz came to Syracuse with a 44.6% three-point mark on his resume at Oregon State last season

While the value of Kingz extends beyond his shooting, his 3-point prowess is the trait with the sign the door and it hasn’t rounded out yet in his six games in an Orange uniform.

Kingz is shooting 7-of-31 from distance (27%).

So, Donnie, when you’re ready to come back, it appears there is an open lane for you to assume No. 1 status.

In the meantime, Syracuse basketball will try to acquire a quality win in Las Vegas after coming up-oh-so short against Houston and Kansas.

Syracuse also needs to set its sights on a matchup with Tennessee at the JMA Wireless Dome on Dec. 2 in order to fuel AD John Wildhack’s goal of playing ‘meaningful games in March.”

It was wrestling icon Ric Flair who once said “to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.”

No one on the Syracuse basketball roster has grabbed that belt from Freeman thus far.