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Starling’s hot second half gives Syracuse road win over Boston College

Starling’s hot second half gives S SU road win over Boston College

Syracuse rides the hot-hand for second ACC win and second win streak of the season.

Story by Jack Belanger / Photos by Jack Henry
Published: January 10, 2025
Syracuse guard J.J. Starling shoots over a Colgate defender in the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday.
Photo by Jack Henry
Despite missing seven games, Starling, here shooting against Colgate, leads Syracuse in made fields with 70 on the season.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass — There is one thing that is clear in the three games since J.J. Starling’s return: Syracuse will go as far as he will take them.

Starling scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half to turn an eight-point Syracuse deficit into a 79-71 win over Boston College at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. Whenever the team needed a bucket, Starling answered the call by getting to the rim.

“Whoever is in front of me I’m going to attack them no matter what,” Starling said. “That’s my mentality. It helps when your coaches and teammates trust.”

Head coach Adrian Autry could only laugh when asked what Starling’s return has meant to the team.

“Two-and-one, right?” Autry said, referring to the team’s record since the junior’s return. “He’s our leader and the team knows it.”

While the hand injury kept Starling off the court for over a month, Autry thinks Starling looks even better.

“His understanding of the game and what we are trying to do (improved). What I loved today was he was giving me feedback and saying what he was seeing out there.”

Autry’s eyes are likely to be telling the truth about Starling. In his three games since returning from his injury, Starling averages 19.67 points per game while shooting 47% from the field. Meanwhile, he has taken on more ball-handling responsibility.

A possible explanation for the improvement? Starling became a student of the game.

“I spent hours and hours a day on film,” he said. “Not just watching myself, obviously I watch all the games of myself. But I watched other guards in the country and took some things from them in terms of how they attack and pace. I felt that helped slow the game down.”

While turnovers consistently weighed Syracuse down all season, the team set a season-low in the category with five. Even after playing 38 minutes, Starling did not turn the ball over once.

Syracuse jumped out to an early 12-6 lead thanks to four points apiece from Starling, Lucas Taylor, and Jyare Davis. From there, Starling scored only two more points for the rest of the half and the game turned into a grudge match.

Boston College responded with a 7-0 run to take the 13-12 lead at the 12:30 mark in the game. 

For a moment, Syracuse looked unphased by the run. Coming out of a timeout, Syracuse went on a 9-0 run to go up 21-13. Back-to-back threes by Taylor and a third from Jaquan Carlos fueled the run.

Taylor scored ten points early in the first half to keep Syracuse afloat while the rest of the team struggled. In the past four games, the Georgia State transfer stepped up his game by scoring in double-figures and providing some consistency from three.

The Eagles slowly worked their way back into the game tying the game at 29 with 30 seconds in the half. The team went on a 12-5 run over the last 3:30 of the half. Donal Hand Jr. scored 11 first-half points after going 6-6 from the free throw line.

After Chris Bell hit three free throws, Syracuse looked to hold a 32-29 lead into halftime. Instead, BC’s Joshua Beadle hit a three as time expired to drain any momentum the Orange had.

Starling started the second half slow, missing his first two shots. For the first 12 minutes of the half, Starling got little help on the offensive end and BC’s lead began to grow.

The Eagles went up 54-46 with eight minutes left in the half.

It was then Starling and the rest of the offense stepped up. Starling scored 18 points in the final 16 minutes of the game.

The offense also got a boost from Kyle Cuffe Jr. off the bench. The junior scored all 10 of his points in the 7:05 of the game.

Cuffe’s big moment came with 3:51 left in the game. Coming out of a media timeout, any chance of BC building some momentum was crushed when he hit an open three to put Syracuse in the driver’s seat, 62-58. His shot brought Syracuse fans to their feet and left his teammates stunned.

“Oh my gosh,” Starling said of Cuffe’s explosion at the end of the game. “Big impact. He was the spark we needed.

While Cuffe’s playing time hasn’t always been consistent, he comes in ready whenever Autry calls his number.

“I was trying to bring energy to my teammates,” Cuffe said. “I feel like my energy is contagious. Even when I’m not on the court, but the leadership I bring. I think everyone picks up on it.”

From there, Starling scored 8 of the team’s final 17 points down the stretch to seal the win on the road.

Syracuse won back-to-back for the first time since the two opening games of the season. The team heads back to the JMA Wireless Dome for a meeting against Louisville on Tuesday at 7 p.m.