On Monday, the day Syracuse would be practicing for the matchup against the Seminoles when the ACC had announced their All ACC Men’s Basketball team awards. While no Syracuse players made the first, second, or third team honors both Eddie Lampkin and JJ Starling were named as honorable mentions.
Marching into this game Syracuse had won against the Virginia Cavaliers 84-70. Eddie Lampkin would lead The Orange that game with 25 points and 10 rebounds but the most prolific scorer on the team had found himself on an off night. JJ Starling only logged in 7 pts against Virginia. Before that, he would have 10 points against Southern Methodist University, and 16 against Virginia Tech in an overtime thriller.
At the start of March, JJ Starling averaged 11 points per game a noticeable difference from his 17 points per game he averaged during the season. While March only gave the fandom a three-game sample size of what Starling could do. It would ease some of the nerves of The Orange faithful if Syracuse would have gone into the tournament with a hot hand. Instead, the Orange would drop two of the last three before winning the regular season finale against Virginia.
There is no doubt that Coach Leonard Hamilton had already devised a defensive scheme to neutralize Syracuse’s best offensive threats. Syracuse also had learned from their first matchup against Florida State back in January on how to counter Florida’s defense.
Unlike their matchup in January Syracuse’s double-double machine, Eddie Lampkin came out of the gates firing. In the first eight minutes, Lampkin would go three for three in the paint muscling through any defender around him.
“…And just how they claim I had five offensive rebounds, nobody else was just going every time, and I was just going every time, and it was just opening,”- Eddie Lampkin on how his team pursues offensive rebounds.
Every time the ball had hit the rim Lampkin would outmuscle, hustle, or tussle any nearby defenders to get his squad some extra second-chance points. In the first eight minutes, Lampkin would have more points than he would have in total the first time Syracuse would matchup against Florida State. It can’t be overlooked was the team’s effort to crash the glass on offensive boards and box out for defensive rebounds. The team out-rebounded the Seminoles 22 to 17. Eddie Lampkin would head into the half with 12 points and 6 rebounds. 4 of which being offensive rebounds.
The paint dominance for Syracuse would cause an adjustment by coach Hamilton at half and that adjustment would kick start Syracuse’s leading scorer.
“… I thought he did a really good job and I thought our guys did a really good job of screening for him, getting him an advantage. And I thought he did a phenomenal job of getting in the lane and putting pressure on the rim. That’s how we need him to play in those situations, and I just thought he stepped up big today.”-Coached Adrian Autry on JJ Starling stepping up when FSU had shut down the post scoring.
Coach Hamilton had committed to shutting down the post dominance that Syracuse had exhibited in the first half by blitzing Lampkin whenever the ball had hit his fingertips. A decision that was understandable because Lampkin only had missed one shot in the first half. But that decision would ultimately give Starling the freedom to play off of pick and rolls, off-ball screens, and isolation. Starling had finished with 8 points in the first half and would erupt for 19 points in the second half. The team’s dominant interior offense had allowed Starling to get any shot in the second half. In the last 3 minutes that confidence would fully be on display as the ACC honorable mention would score 6 points and be the only Syracuse player to record a field goal in the last 3 minutes.
The game would be sealed by Kyle Cuff Jr., who would hit 2 clutch free throws to give the Cuse a 3-point lead that Florida State wouldn’t be able to overcome.
On the biggest stage of the season both of Syracuse All-ACC honorable mentions proved to the spectators unfamiliar with the game why they had received votes to be included in one of the three All-ACC teams. Syracuse will be having a rematch with SMU on Wednesday based on this recent performance by the team and the heartbreaking loss they experienced at the start of March. This next game against SMU may be a jaw-dropper.