After a two-game road trip in California, Syracuse men’s basketball (10-12, 4-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) heads back to the East Coast to welcome No. 2 Duke (19-2, 11-0 ACC) to the JMA Wireless Dome.
Both of the Orange’s games in the Golden State were highlighted by two completely different starts. In game one of SU’s road stint against Stanford (15-7, 7-4 ACC), Syracuse opened the contest scoreless for seven and a half minutes, trailing 17-0. Orange guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. ended the drought with a layup, but SU’s slow start snowballed into a 25-2 deficit less than halfway into the first half. Despite a surge that saw Syracuse climb within single-digits, it wasn’t enough to best Stanford.
“I thought the game was decided in the first thirteen minutes until we started fighting,” Orange head coach Adrian Autry said following Wednesday’s 70-61 loss to the Cardinal. “We dug ourselves a hole. You can’t do that especially against a team like Stanford.”
Three days later against Cal (11-11, 4-7 ACC), SU did a complete 180. Syracuse opened the contest on a 9-0 run and spent 39 of the 40 minutes of gametime with the lead. Orange guards JJ Starling, Lucas Taylor, and Elijah Moore all scored early, and the duo of Starling and Taylor combined for 37 points and 12 rebounds against the Golden Bears when it was all said and done.
“I thought tonight was our best first half we’ve had all year,” coach Autry claimed after Saturday’s 75-66 win against Cal. “Lucas Taylor was big time. He hit a huge three-pointer that we needed.”
Coach Autry also praised his guards’ rebounding efforts, stating, “when JJ Starling gets five rebounds, when Lucas Taylor gets seven, … that's the difference. The difference is when our guards rebound.”
While SU bounced back after a slow start against Stanford, Syracuse can’t afford another early slump against Duke. Led by freshman Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils offense ranks third in the ACC at 80.3 points per game, while defensively, Duke is fifth nationally, holding opponents to only 60. Individually, Flagg’s 20 points per game ranks second in the conference. Despite the victory against Cal, coach Autry still believes there’s room to grow, especially when preparing to face the Blue Devils.
“Even in this win there were a lot of things that we have to continue to get better at if we want to continue to win at the level that we want,” Autry stated in the postgame press conference following the victory against the Golden Bears.
The best 2 freshmen in the nation are on the same team 😈 pic.twitter.com/NkBOWsT6cn
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 2, 2025
Find out if SU starts off strong when the Orange and Blue Devils tango Wednesday night at 7 p.m. WAER’s coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.