Syracuse, N.Y. — The 14th-seeded Syracuse basketball team takes on the sixth-seeded SMU Mustangs at 9:30 p.m., Wednesday in the second round of the ACC tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The game will air on ESPNU.
See in-game team and individual stats here.
Note: Refresh this page throughout Syracuse’s game vs. SMU to see the latest updates
Sign up for more Orange basketball analysis from Donna Ditota in our ‘Posting Up’ newsletter. Try the newsletter for free
Fans can stream the full 2024-25 Syracuse Orange season on fuboTV. Fans can get cheap tickets to see the Orange from SeatGeek. Fanatics has a full collection of Syracuse Orange gear to shop online.
First half
11:29 remaining: SMU 12, Syracuse 11
Starling banks in a jumper from the right elbow and has hit his first three shots in the opening 5 minutes.
Nice feed from Starling to Davis for a one-handed slam. That possession was keyed by Carlos slowing the pace on the tip out to reset the offense.
Taylor picks up his second foul with 12:53 remaining in the first half. Petar Majstorovic, Kyle Cuffe and Naheem McLeod check into the game. Harris comes up empty from the free throw line.
Cuffe turns it over trying to thread a pass into Majstorovic.
SMU grabs its first lead before Cuffe gets swallowed on the take and draws a foul.
15:47 remaining: Syracuse 7, SMU 5
Starling, 1-for-10 from 3 eight days ago vs. SMU, hits his first 3 on his first attempt. Starling later uses a ball screen to get into the lane and hit a floater.
B.J. Edwards hits an open look from deep, and Chuck Harris beats Taylor to the rim for a layup. Taylor then misses an open corner 3 off a baseline drive by Lampkin.
The Orange jumps out to a 7-3 lead to open the game on 3-of-5 shooting.
Pregame
SU opens with a familiar starting five:
- PG Jaquan Carlos
- SG JJ Starling
- SF Lucas Taylor
- PF Jyare Davis
- C Eddie Lampkin
We may be looking at another delayed start. Stanford-Cal is in a tight one midway through the second half, though so far, so good on getting the earlier games completed in tidy fashion.
JJ Starling after last night’s win called Wednesday’s matchup a “get-back” game, referring to the Mustangs’ 77-75 victory eight days ago in Dallas, when the Orange coughed up a 12-point lead in the second half and Keon Ambrose-Hylton tipped in the winning basket with 2.9 seconds remaining.
The Orange felt it let one slip away, and players are projecting a bit of confidence it can play with most of the teams that remain in this tournament.
Syracuse is seeking its first three-game winning streak since it opened the season with wins against Le Moyne, Colgate and Youngstown State back in November.
There was evidence then how difficult a season this would shape up to be. And yet, there’s some evidence the Orange has perhaps found a different gear in the last week, starting with that game in Dallas, when SU held one of the ACC’s highest-scoring offenses below its season average.
Starling did not play well in last week’s loss to the Mustangs. He bumped heads with SMU’s Chuck Harris, briefly exited the game to head into the locker room for evaluation and finished 3-for-17 shooting, 1-for-10 from 3.
Still, Syracuse has held its opponents to an average of 69 points per game over the last three outings. It’s a small sample size compared to the full body of work, but in a single-elimination tournament, it’s a measure of hope SU fans can cling to as it attempts to extend its stay.
SU has leaned on the interior play of Eddie Lampkin and Jyare Davis to help open driving lanes for Starling and avoid an overreliance on perimeter shots (Davis has found his stroke from deep, of late). But SU has also gotten a better floor game out of point guard Jaquan Carlos.
Chris Bell, quiet in Tuesday night’s opening-round win vs. Florida State, finished with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3 in the previous outing vs. SMU.
