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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Following Syracuse’s first Atlantic Coast Conference win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday, center Eddie Lampkin Jr. said the Orange needed to “take the momentum and lock in” ahead of continuing ACC play against Boston College. In a turbulent second year under Adrian Autry, SU has experienced significantly more lows than highs. Since winning its first three games — albeit in way too close fashion — against Le Moyne, Colgate and Youngstown State, Syracuse has yet to win consecutive games.

The Orange are 4-8 in the 12 games since starting 3-0, most of which were played without leading scorer J.J. Starling sidelined with a broken left hand. Without Starling, the program reached a new low under Autry, notably suffering a 27-point loss to Maryland. Since Starling returned versus Florida State on Jan. 4, SU is 1-1.

But, as Lampkin said, facing BC — KenPom’s No. 187 ranked team — presented the Orange a chance to gain momentum as they enter the thick of conference play. And that’s what they did, securing a 79-71 road win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (8-8, 2-3 ACC) win over against Boston College (9-7, 1-4 ACC):

33-17 Run

The game’s first 30 minutes consisted of Syracuse and Boston College continuously trading runs and neither team creating much separation on the scoreboard. The Orange’s largest lead was eight points in the first half, while BC struggled to pull away by more than a couple of possessions when it led.

But as the end of the game was approaching, the Eagles began pulling away, boosting their lead to a game-high 54-46 with nine minutes remaining. Facing similar situations in prior games, including losses against Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Georgetown, the Orange folded and never made a push to get back in the game.

They flipped the script in Chestnut Hill. Using a mostly dominant iso-centric offense, SU ripped off a 10-0 run courtesy of Kyle Cuffe Jr., Lampkin and Jyáre Davis attacking inside. Starling then capped the run with a mid-range make, giving the Orange a 56-54 lead with 5:40 remaining.

BC’s Joshua Beadle ended the run with a 2, but Cuffe answered right back by ending SU’s 3-point drought. A minute later, another Cuffe triple extended Syracuse’s lead to 62-58 with under four minutes left. From there, Starling carried the Orange down the stretch, scoring six points in the final two minutes to close the win.

The biggest difference for SU throughout its dominant run to close the game was its ball movement. Syracuse registered four assists throughout the closing run, marking half of its assists in the game. The Orange tied their season-low with eight assists.

3-point woes

SU’s porous 3-point shooting has been well-documented throughout the season. Entering the bout versus the Eagles, it was shooting 28.9% from distance, which ranked 335th in the nation. Naturally, the Orange opted to attack inside early. Ten of their first 12 shots were from inside the arc, as Elijah Moore misfired on two 3-point attempts.

While Syracuse was efficient, making six of its interior shots, Boston College maintained a 13-12 lead at the under-16-minute timeout. Following the break, Autry inserted Jaquan Carlos, Chris Bell and Petar Majstorovic into the lineup alongside Lucas Taylor and Lampkin.

Bell tried asserting himself early, driving inside but missed the mark out of the timeout. On SU’s next possession, Taylor found himself open on the left wing before drilling a 3. Following a BC miss, Taylor created his own shot from distance against drawing nylon.

Two possessions later, after misses from both teams, Carlos was wide open near the top of the key. Without hesitation, the 16.7% 3-point shooter canned a triple. The make gave Syracuse a 21-13 lead with 9:30 remaining in the half. From there, however, Syracuse missed its final four 3-point attempts to close the first half.

The second half was much like the end of the first half, as SU missed its first four 3-pointers on three shots off the mark from Starling and one from Taylor. Down the stretch, though, Cuffe came off the bench and rattled home two daggers, propelling Syracuse’s win.

The Orange finished 5-of-15 from 3, while Boston College went 4-for-16.

Iso-centric offense

When the Orange began the game pounding the ball inside, they frequently created isolation opportunities. On the game’s first possession, Starling corralled the ball on the right wing before everyone else cleared out for him. Despite facing tight defense, he drained a contested mid-range jumper. After Starling forced a turnover on the ensuing possession, the Orange fed the ball to Davis, isolated on the left block, before he turned his one-on-one matchup into two points.

For his first points, Taylor created his own shot off the dribble before driving inside for an easy 2. To build on its interior success, Syracuse again got the ball down low to Davis one-on-one against BC’s Elijah Strong. Strong tried to draw a charge, but Davis instead slammed home an easy dunk with no whistle.

The Orange’s next stretch of points came from Taylor and Carlos’ 3-pointers, but their iso-centric offense was prevalent for the rest of the half. Yet with 3s no longer falling and settling for contested inside shots, Syracuse went over five minutes without scoring, allowing the Eagles to cut their deficit to 21-20 with five minutes left in the half.

Four Lampkin and two Davis points down low got SU’s offense back on track, but it couldn’t create separation entering the locker room, knotted 32-32.

Similar to the start of the first half, the Orange attacked the interior to begin the second. Davis (four) and Starling (eight) combined for SU’s first 12 points off shots it generated itself. A good pass from Lampkin helped clear the lane for a Starling floater — the only points of the 12 scored off an assist.

As the half progressed, Syracuse’s offense consistently consisted of Starling dribbling the ball in the half-court and looking to create his own shot off the dribble. With SU failing to get anything from 3, it was really its only chance. For Starling, it resulted in a bell-cow role, attempting his most shots (22) in a non-overtime game this year. He parlayed that into a game-high 26 points.

Jaquan Carlos’ minutes

Throughout the early stretch of Syracuse’s season, Autry was adamant about Carlos’ role as the team’s starting point guard despite his struggles. However, the Hofstra transfer gradually saw his minutes decrease to 21 against Texas, 26 against Texas Tech and 19 against Cornell.

But right when it seemed Carlos’ role would continue diminishing, Starling sustained his broken hand. Starling’s absence forced Carlos to play nearly every minute in the 10 games he missed. While Carlos started in Starling’s return against FSU, he saw his minutes decrease to 20, his first time playing under 34 minutes since Starling’s injury.

Then, for the first time, Carlos came off the bench against the Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, with Starling slotting in as the starting point guard. Off the bench, Carlos played a season-low 10 minutes, shooting 0-for-1 from the field while notching two assists and a rebound.

Against BC, he again came off the bench. Despite draining an early 3, he didn’t see the ball in his hands much offensively and only played five first-half minutes, also registering an assist. Carlos then didn’t play in the second half.

Published on January 11, 2025 at 5:32 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon