Syracuse is going for its third straight win against Louisville

On January 15, 2025By Littum

Winners of two straight conference games, Syracuse (8-8, 2-3 ACC) looks to extend its streak Tuesday night in the JMA Wireless Dome against Louisville (12-5, 5-1 ACC). The competition starts at 19.00 and broadcast live on the ACC Network.

Setting the scene
Syracuse won a pair of ACC contests last week, its first two conference triumphs of the campaign. The Orange beat Georgia Tech on Tuesday, 62-55, before coming from behind late Saturday to take down Boston College, 79-71, for their first road win of the season. JJ Starling scored 21 against the Yellow Jackets and 26 against the Eagles to pace the Orange Eddie Lampkin Jr. posts a double-double in both meetings.

At 5-1 in the ACC, the Cardinals are currently tied for second in the conference with Clemson. Since dropping its ACC opener to Duke, Louisville has won five straight ACC games and enters Tuesday’s showdown with a six-game winning streak overall. Last week, the Cardinals secured impressive road wins over Clemson, 74-64, and Pittsburgh, 82-78.

The Cardinals are in their first season under head coach Pat Kelsey, who was hired in March 2024 after successful stints at the College of Charleston and Winthrop. Last season, Kelsey guided the Cougars to a 27-8 mark, the Coastal Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles and a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Syracuse-Louisville series
Louisville leads the head-to-head between the teams, 19-14. However, the Orange have won their last four meetings and have an 8-4 mark in games contested in the Dome.

Last season, Syracuse went 2-0 against Louisville. Chris Bell knocked down eight 3-pointers to help the Orange hold off the Cardinals, 94-92, at the Dome and scored 23 points in an 82-76 win at the KFC Yum! Center.

Back-to-back
The Orange enter Tuesday on a two-game ACC winning streak after wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College.

Syracuse held the Yellow Jackets to just 55 points and 36 percent shooting from the field. Starling and Lampkin Jr. took over late and combined for 23 of the Orange’s 37 points in the second half. Syracuse also doubled Georgia Tech in second-half rebounds (26-13) and grabbed 11 offensive boards after the break.

The Orange then rallied late to overcome Boston College in the final nine minutes at the Conte Forum. Trailing 54-46 with 8:51 left in the contest, the Orange closed the game on a 33-17 scoring stretch to complete a comeback effort. Starling and Kyle Cuffe Jr. contributed 10 points apiece during the closing run. The Orange held the lead for the final 4:51 of regulation time after not leading at all in the second half until that point. Five Orange players scored in double figures – Starling (26), Lucas Taylor (15), Jyare Davis (12) Lampkin Jr. (10) and Cuffe Jr. (10).

Welcome back, JJ
Starling has picked up where he left off since returning from his injury as Syracuse’s leading scorer has recorded double figures in each of the last three contests. He has hit double-digit points in all nine of his appearances on the season.

In Syracuse’s win at Boston College on Saturday, Starling paced the Orange with 26 points, 20 of which came after halftime. Starling went 12-of-22 from the field for the game and 9-of-14 in the second half. Against Georgia Tech last week, Starling scored 21 points on an efficient 9-of-16 effort from the field.

Starling is averaging 19.8 points per game. excursion on the campaign. His 38 points in the Orange’s double-overtime win against Youngstown State are still the most by any ACC player in a game this season.

Clutch cuff
Cuffe Jr. provided a late boost in Syracuse’s comeback bid at Boston College. The guard scored all 10 of his points in the final 8:33 of regulation, which included the team’s first and only two triples of the second half.

Over the last five games, Cuffe Jr. has averaged 8.8 points and scored in double figures in three of those outings. He has played double-digit minutes in three of the team’s last four ACC contests.

Lampkin Delivery
Lampkin Jr. is coming off his fifth double-double of the campaign, a 10-point, 13-rebound effort in the win at Boston College. The 13 boards matched his season high and was just one short of his career best.

The center has tallied double-digit rebounds in five of the last six games and is averaging four offensive boards per game. competition in that stretch. He also posted a double-double in Syracuse’s win over Georgia Tech with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Lampkin Jr. also tied Starling for a team-high three assists against the Eagles. His 39 assists on the season streak alone Jaquan Carlos on Orange.

Taylor time
Taylor has sparked Syracuse’s offense in recent games, especially from beyond the arc. The junior guard has gone 14-of-28 (50 percent) from deep over the last six contests with multiple marks in each of those games.

Taylor has hit double figures in four consecutive outings, highlighted by a 15-point effort in the win at Boston College and a season-best 16 points against Wake Forest. He also had 10 points in Syracuse’s first ACC win of the campaign against Georgia Tech.

Davis does it all
Davis made his fifth start of the season against Boston College in place of the injured Donnie Freeman. He turned in another great all-around performance with 12 points and eight boards.

He has eight games this season with at least five points and five rebounds in each of the Orange’s last two ACC wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College. The forward is third on the team for the season in rebounding with 5.5 per game and is shooting 53 percent from the field while averaging 8.6 points.

Crashing The Glass
As a team, Syracuse grabs 38.9 rebounds per game. contest, the third most in the ACC. The Orange boasts a plus-4.4 margin on the season and has recorded double-digit offensive boards 10 times on the campaign, including in five of the past seven contests.

Three different Syracuse players have pulled down 10 or more rebounds in a game this season — Freeman (seven times), Lampkin Jr. (seven times) and Davis (once). Lampkin has double-digit boards in five of his last six outings, while Freeman has hit double figures in two of his last three appearances.

Boy Scout in Louisville
Five Louisville players are averaging double-digit points this season, led by Chucky Hepburn’s 15.1 per game. College of Charleston transfer Reyne Smith scores 13.5 per contest is the conference’s best 3-point shooter with 61 makes, 13 more than the second-highest number.

J’Vonne Hadley (7.7) is Louisville’s best rebounder and ranks no. 8 in the ACC in the category. Hepburn leads the ACC in steals with 45 and leads the Cardinals with 96 assists on the season.

As a team, the Cardinals rank no. 5 in the ACC in scoring offense with 77.8 points per game. competition, no. 2 in made 3-pointers with 160 and no. 4 in rebounding with 38.6 boards per match. Louisville averages the second-most offensive rebounds in the ACC at 12.9.

Freeman, Lampkin Jr. Make watch lists before the season
Freeman is one of 20 players to make the preseason watch list for the 2025 Karl Malone Award, which recognizes the best power forwards in Division I men’s basketball. Freeman, a McDonald’s All-American and the second-highest Syracuse recruit in program history, is one of two freshmen to make this year’s Malone Award watch list.

Freeman, who has missed the last two games due to injury, has recorded six double-doubles on the campaign and is averaging 15.3 points over his past nine appearances. He has scored 15 or more in six games over that stretch.

Lampkin Jr. is one of 20 preseason watch list candidates for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which goes to the top center in men’s college basketball. Lampkin Jr. is in his first year with the Orange and is averaging 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. competition with five double-doubles.

The list for both awards will be narrowed to 10 at the end of January, and then to just five at the end of February. In March, the five finalists for both awards will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar, Malone and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, where the winners will be selected.

Orange fans are encouraged to participate in three rounds of fan voting, presented by Dell Technologies, at hoophallawards.com.

Tickets
Syracuse men’s basketball tickets are available online (cuse.com/tickets), by phone (1-888-DOMETIX) and at the Dome Box Office (Gate B).

For complete coverage of Syracuse men’s basketball, follow the team at X (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (@cuse_mbb).