Orange Edged Late At Miami

Tuesday, February 11

Coral Gables, FL

7 PM

Syracuse University

11-14,5-9ACC

Miami

6-18,2-11ACC

Syracuse

Miami (FL)

2/11/2025 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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J.J. Starling and Eddie Lampkin Jr. both exceeded 20 points Tuesday night, but Syracuse (11-14, 5-9 ACC) dropped a tight affair against Miami (6-18, 2-11 ACC) at the Watsco Center, 91-84.

Starling paced the Orange with 25 points while Lampkin delivered 22 points and a team-high 13 rebounds for his 10^th double-double of the campaign. Matthew Cleveland scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Hurricanes.

How The Game Was Decided
Miami's offense rallied with an efficient offensive display over the final 10 minutes to take control of the contest. Syracuse led 61-58 when Paul Djobet tied the score for the Hurricanes with a triple. Following a pair of Miami free throws, Cleveland and Jalil Bethea each connected on a 3-pointer to bookend a Petar Majstorovic layup, making the score 69-63 in favor of the Hurricanes.

Jaquan Carlos responded with a triple of his own to bring Syracuse back within three, but Djobet scored the next five points to extend Miami's lead to eight. Cleveland later converted a pair of baskets to stretch the Hurricanes' advantage to nine, the largest of the period, with just 1:48 remaining in regulation. The Orange could get no closer than five points from there, as Miami went 9-of-11 from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the victory.

Over the final 9:13 of the game, the Hurricanes made 9-of-11 attempts from the field, which included four makes from beyond-the-arc.

Sizzling Second-Half Start
It took Syracuse just over five minutes to erase a six-point halftime deficit, as the Orange made 6-of-8 shots from the field out of the break to even the score at 52. Starling, who scored eight of Syracuse's first 15 points after intermission, and Kyle Cuffe Jr. hit consecutive 3-pointers to tie the game before Cuffe gave the Orange just their second lead of the contest, 54-52, with a transition layup.

Miami answered with six straight to retake a four-point lead, 58-54, but the Orange roared back immediately with a 7-0 run of their own, which started on a Chris Bell basket. Carlos followed by knocking down Syracuse's fourth 3-pointer of the second half to push the Orange ahead, 59-58, before a Lampkin dunk with 9:26 to go put Syracuse up by three.

Dynamic First-Half Duo
Bell and Lampkin Jr. lifted Syracuse's offense in the first half, as the two combined for 24 of the team's 37 points in the opening frame. Both scored 12 points, with half of Lampkin's tally coming via free throws following a 6-of-6 effort from the line. Bell reached 12 points before intermission behind a 4-of-5 start from the field which included a pair of triples. Bell and Lampkin combined to shoot 7-for-9 from the floor in the opening period.

However, Miami took a 43-37 advantage into the locker room after closing the half on a 13-7 run. The Hurricanes made seven of their last eight field goals, with the last coming from Cleveland, who capped off a 15-point first half with a jumper on Miami's final possession. Lucas Taylor answered with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the period to bring the Orange within six. Syracuse led just once in the opening half after a Starling layup made the score 6-5 with 17:17 remaining in the period.

The Hurricanes shot 55-percent from the field in the opening half (17-of-31) to take the lead and made 5-of-12 attempts from beyond-the-arc (42-percent).

Notable Numbers

Starling turned in his sixth 25-plus point performance of the season and his second in as many games. The guard has now scored double figures in 16-of-18 appearances on the campaign. He tallied 19 points in the second half.
Lampkin's 22 points were a season best and secured his best scoring output since he had 18 points against Bucknell on Dec. 28. He also added 13 rebounds for to hit double-digit double-doubles on the campaign and paced the Orange with six assists, his first game with five-plus helpers since he had five against Albany on Dec. 10.
Bell also reached double figures with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. He finished 5-of-10 from the field in 23 minutes of action.
Starling, Lampkin and Bell combined for 73-percent of Syracuse's points on the night (61-of-84).
Syracuse's reserves contributed 34 points compared to Miami's 26 bench points.
As a team, the Orange shot 46-percent from the field (30-of-66) compared to Miami's 55-percent clip (31-of-56). The Hurricanes made 10 triples compared to Syracuse's eight.
Syracuse went 16-of-17 from the line (94-percent), led by an 8-of-9 mark from Starling. Miami was also stellar at the line, making 19-of-23 attempts (83-percent).
The Orange outrebounded the Hurricanes, 33-28.
Miami shot 56-percent from the field in the second period, making 14-of-25 shots.
The Hurricanes held a lead for over 34 minutes while Syracuse led for just over one minute.
With the win, the Hurricanes now hold an 11-9 advantage against Syracuse in games played at Miami.

Up Next
The Orange will host North Carolina at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPN.

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 on X (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (@cuse_mbb).