Syracuse advances to Round 2 of the ACC Tournament with 66-62 victory over Florida State

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Syracuse Men’s Basketball (14-18, 7-13 ACC) avenged themselves from a 16-point loss to Florida State (17-15, 8-12 ACC) earlier this season, the Orange hanging on in the Spectrum Center until the very end to secure a 66-62 victory over the Seminoles in the first round of the ACC Tournament. 

One way you could describe this game: streaky.  The Orange started off red hot making seven of their first 10 field goals, taking a 17-10 lead seven minutes into the first half.  However, the Orange went ice cold, shooting 2-18 from the field over the next 10 minutes.  Florida State would cut Syracuse’s lead to two points with an empathic alley-oop from Jamir Watkins, the Orange up 27-25 with 2:25 remaining in the first.  SU would maintain the lead going into the half, making three of their last 4 shots, including layups on back-to-back possessions from Eddie Lampkin.  Syracuse led Florida State at the break 30-26. 

The streakiness would continue in the second half, Syracuse going on a 10-0 run in 3:11 of gameplay to take a 50-34 lead with 13:15 remaining, capping it off with a slam dunk by Naheem McLeod, his only basket of the game.  Florida State went on to match the Orange with a 10-0 run of their own, cutting the lead to six with 8:45 left to play.  In that 5-minute stretch, SU would shoot 1-8, missing five in a row and turning the ball over three times.  But JJ Starling would turn up the heat when it mattered most, finishing the game making Syracuse’s last three baskets on contested layups.  Though Florida State would cut SU’s lead to one point with :09 left, Kyle Cuffe Jr. & Jyare Davis would make both of their late-game free throws to put Syracuse up by four.  The Orange would hang on to beat the Seminoles 66-62. 

Syracuse guard JJ Starling led all scorers with 27 points, shooting 12-23 from the field.  Eddie Lampkin & Jyare Davis would both finish with 14 points apiece, as well as 9 and 6 rebounds respectively.  Though the Orange did struggle at times throughout, going scoreless for over 6 minutes in the second half, they fought until the very end to secure the win. 

“It comes down to being mentally tough,” said Jyare Davis when asked about finishing the game and locking in despite the second-half scoring drought.  “We’ve been in a lot of crazy situations this year, a lot of tough situations.  I think all the situations have helped shape us into the team we are now.  When that rough stretch came, I don’t think anybody on our team batted an eye. We all continued to keep fighting and staying together.” 

Eddie Lampkin chimed in, attributing Syracuse’s defense to helping them through the drought, saying “As long as we were still getting stops, we were still in the game.  For me, it really doesn’t matter if we’re not scoring.  We could go on not scoring for a couple possessions.  We’ve still got to take advantage of the defensive side and don’t let your offense stop your defense.”  

That defensive performance Lampkin referred to was crucial for SU, allowing 28 less points for FSU in this matchup than in their first game this season, a 90-74 loss to the Seminoles.  While Florida State ended the first game shooting 53.6% from the field and 38.9% from three, the Orange put a clamp on their scoring efforts this time around, FSU ended this game shooting 40.4% from the field and 20.0% from three. 

The Syracuse Orange look to continue this defensive prowess in their next matchup in the Spectrum Center as they face the 6th seeded SMU Mustangs (22-9, 13-7 ACC) in the second round of the ACC Tournament tonight at 9:30pm.