Starling Eclipses 1,000 Career Points In Win At California

Saturday, February 1

Berkeley, CA

10 PM

Syracuse University

California

Starling Eclipses 1,000 Career Points In Win At California

2/2/2025 12:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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J.J. Starling surpassed 1,000 career points Saturday night as Syracuse (10-12, 4-7 ACC) held on to defeat California (11-11, 4-7 ACC) at Haas Pavilion, 75-66.

Starling scored 18 points on the night to compliment a season-high 19 from Lucas Taylor. The Orange held the Golden Bears to 29-percent shooting from the field, the lowest an opponent has produced against Syracuse this season.

How The Game Was Decided
Syracuse's defense stifled the Golden Bears throughout the encounter. The Orange limited California to 4-of-23 (17-percent) from the field in the opening frame, allowing just two points in the paint while forcing four turnovers. Syracuse did not allow a field goal over the final 5:17 of the first half and carried a 17-point margin into the break.

The Orange then held California to 35-percent from the field in the second half (14-of-40) to maintain a multiple-possession lead throughout the rest of the contest. An 11-0 run by the Golden Bears brought them to within seven with just under seven minutes remaining, but the Orange defense responded by keeping California without a field goal over the next five minutes, allowing Syracuse to go back up by double figures.

The Golden Bears made a final push to within six late, but Syracuse closed the game out by going 8-of-8 at the free throw line in the final two minutes.

Starling Reaches 1,000
Starling, who entered Saturday with 990 career points, reached 1,000 with a floater at the 15:09 mark of the second half. Starling finished the contest with 18 points to move to 1,008 in his career.

Starling has scored 695 of those points over the past two seasons with the Orange after notching 313 as a freshman at Notre Dame. It took Starling 75 career games to reach the 1,000-point threshold, with the last 47 of those appearances coming with Syracuse. Following tonight's game, Starling's career average per game sits at 13.4 points.

Dynamic From Deep
The Orange went 8-of-16 from beyond-the-arc, finishing at 50-percent on the night. It was the third time this season Syracuse shot at least 50-percent on 3-pointers and the second time in the last four outings.

Taylor matched his season high with a trio of triples, finishing the night 3-of-5 on 3-pointers. Moore hit a pair for the Orange while Starling, Chris Bell and Jaquan Carlos rounded out Syracuse's long-distance makes with one apiece.

First-Half Success
Starling scored the first four Orange points to help Syracuse take an early 9-0 advantage. Taylor was the next on the board for Syracuse with a jumper before Moore knocked down the team's first 3-pointer of the night.

The Orange went on to build a 23-10 lead behind contributions from their bench. Bell scored five points with Carlos, Petar Majstorovic and Naheem McLeod combining for five in the opening 12:08 of the first half. A Starling triple on Syracuse's final possession gave the Orange a 40-23 advantage entering the locker room.

Notable Numbers

Taylor bested his previous season high of 16 points on just eight attempts from the field. He finished 5-of-8, including a 3-of-5 clip on 3-pointers. He also went 6-for-6 at the free throw line, his most makes in a game this season.
In addition to his 18 points, Starling paced the Orange with four assists and added five rebounds.
Lampkin Jr. came within a point of reaching 1,000 in his career as well, ending the night with six to reach 999 career points. He also grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.
Jyare Davis provided versatile contributions for the Orange, accumulating six points, five rebounds, three assists and a team-best two steals.
Coming off his 16-point effort at Stanford, Carlos delivered eight points against the Golden Bears. He went 3-of-3 on free throws.
For the 17^th straight game, Syracuse's bench unit outscored its opponent's, as the Orange reserves topped California's, 20-11.
The Orange shot 17-of-20 from the free throw line as a team. The 85-percent clip was the best for Syracuse in an ACC game this season.
Syracuse outscored California in the paint, 30-20, and won the battle on the boards, 42-37. However, the Golden Bears did grab 17 offensive rebounds, including 13 in the second half, compared to Syracuse's 11.
As a team, Syracuse shot 46-percent from the field for the game. The Orange were over 40-percent in both halves.
Syracuse's 40 first-half points were the most for the team in an ACC game this season.
California's 29-percent effort from the field was the lowest percentage Syracuse has allowed an opponent to shoot on the season.
Jeremiah Wilkinson and Jovan Blacksher Jr. each tallied a game-high 20 points for the Golden Bears. The rest of the team combined for 26 points on 6-of-28 shooting from the field.
With the victory, Syracuse improves to 4-1 all-time against California. This was the first meeting between the teams as conference foes.

Up Next
Syracuse welcomes No. 2 Duke, who currently sits atop the ACC with an 11-0 conference record, to the JMA Wireless Dome on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the game airing live on ESPN2.

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).

Gallery: (2-1-2025) MBB v Cal