Orange Host Virginia For Senior Day

Game Details: Saturday, March 8, Syracuse, N.Y., 8 p.m.
TV: ACC Network
Live Coverage: Stats
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Virginia Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule

Syracuse (12-18, 6-13 ACC) wraps up its regular season Saturday night as the Orange square off with Virginia (15-15, 8-11 ACC) at the JMA Wireless Dome on Senior Day. The contest is slated to begin at 8 p.m. and will air live on ACC Network.

Setting The Stage
Syracuse took SMU down to the wire on Tuesday at Moody Coliseum, falling 77-75 after the Mustangs tipped in the game-winning basket in the closing seconds. Five Syracuse players scored in double figures, led by 13 each from Lucas Taylor and Chris Bell. Jaquan Carlos tallied 12 points and eight assists while Eddie Lampkin Jr. came just one rebound shy of his 14^th double-double on the campaign, racking up 10 points and a team-high nine boards. J.J. Starling also finished with 10 points.

The Cavaliers defeated Florida State earlier this week, 60-57, in their final home contest of the season. Dai Dai Ames paced Virginia with 18 points with Andrew Rohde contributing 17 of his own. Virginia enters Saturday having won five of its last eight outings, which also includes victories against Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. The Cavaliers have also won four of their last five road games, with the lone loss in that stretch coming at North Carolina.

Virginia is led by interim head coach Ron Sanchez, who took over the program on Oct. 18 when Tony Bennett announced his retirement after 15 seasons at the helm. Sanchez previously served on Bennett's staff from 2009-18 before spending five seasons as the head coach at Charlotte from 2018-23. He returned to work alongside Bennett at Virginia for the 2024-25 campaign.

The Syracuse-Virginia Series
Virginia holds a 14-6 lead in the series against the Orange, having won six consecutive matchups between the teams. The Cavaliers defeated the Orange in their lone meeting last season at John Paul Jones Arena, 84-62.

The Cavaliers have won six of their eight trips to the JMA Wireless Dome, including each of the last five. The last Syracuse victory over Virginia at the Dome came in 2017. The last time the Orange triumphed over the Cavaliers in any game came on Jan. 11, 2020, when Syracuse defeated No. 18 Virginia in overtime at John Paul Jones, 63-55.

Senior Day
Syracuse will honor the following seniors in a pre-game ceremony Saturday: Jaquan Carlos, Anthony Clayton, Kyle Cuffe Jr., Jyare Davis, Nate Fleisher, Eddie Lampkin Jr., Naheem McLeod and Lucas Taylor.

Orange Hour
From 6:30 until tip-off Saturday, there will be an Orange Happy Hour Concession Discount at Miron Victory Court in the JMA Wireless Dome. Hot dogs will be sold for $2 with cans of Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light discounted at $5. Candy and popcorn boxes will also be $2 off.

Starling Starring
Starling is averaging a team-best 18.0 points per outing on the campaign, the sixth most in the ACC this season through his 23 games played. His 38 points from the Orange's double-overtime victory against Youngstown State were a career high and the second most by any ACC player in a game this season.

Starling has scored 20-plus points in three of the last seven games, as he tallied 28 in the triple overtime win over Boston College, scored 25 against Miami and poured in 22 versus North Carolina. He is averaging 18.9 points over the last seven outings.

Starling surpassed 1,000 career points in Syracuse's victory at California earlier this month. The junior guard entered the night with 990 points and hit the 1,000 mark with a floater at the 15:09 mark of the second half. He finished that contest with 18 points. It took Starling 75 career games to reach the 1,000-point threshold, with the last 47 of those appearances coming with Syracuse after spending his freshman campaign at Notre Dame.

After missing seven games earlier this season due to injury, Syracuse's leading scorer has recorded double figures in 15 of his 17 appearances since rejoining the lineup. He is averaging 17.3 points per contest over that span.

Lampkin's Recent Leap
On Jan. 25 against Pittsburgh, Lampkin Jr. became the first Syracuse player to tally 23 rebounds in a game since Derrick Coleman did so against Villanova on March 10, 1990, at the Big East Tournament. Only two Syracuse players have grabbed more rebounds in a single game than Lampkin Jr. – Frank Reddout with 34 versus Temple on Feb. 9, 1952, and Dave Bing with 25 against Cornell on Feb. 8, 1966.

Lampkin's 23-rebound performance is one of the top 10 efforts on the glass in Syracuse history. The 23 rebounds were also the most by any ACC player in a game since Armando Bacot also had 23 for North Carolina against James Madison on Nov. 20, 2022. Additionally, his 15 defensive rebounds versus the Panthers were the sixth most in a single game in Orange history, with the all-time Syracuse record sitting at 16. He recently grabbed 13 defensive boards against NC State, which tied the 11^th most by a Syracuse player in a game.

Against Duke last month, Lampkin Jr. hit another career milestone, as he became the second Syracuse player in as many games to surpass 1,000 career points, joining Starling. Lampkin Jr. reached the mark with a layup at the 2:05 mark of the first half. After spending the first four seasons of his career at TCU and Colorado, where he totaled the first 776 points of his career, he has notched 225 this season with the Orange. Lampkin Jr. reached 1,000 points in his 127^th career appearance, the last 23 of which have come with Syracuse.

Lampkin Jr. is averaging a double-double in ACC play this season with 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. His 13 double-doubles on the campaign are tied with Oshea Brissett (2017-18) for the second most by an Orange player since the start of the 2014-15 season. Only Jesse Edwards (14, 2022-23) has more for Syracuse in that span.

Crashing The Glass
As a team, Syracuse grabs 37.4 rebounds per contest, the fourth most in the ACC. The Orange boast a plus-3.6 margin on the season and have recorded double-digit offensive boards 18 times on the campaign, including in eight of the last nine games.

Three different Syracuse players have pulled down 10 or more rebounds in a game this season – Lampkin Jr. (16 times), Donnie Freeman (seven times) and Davis (one time). Lampkin is second in the conference in rebounding (9.6 per game) and has double-digit boards in 14 of the last 19 outings.

Complimentary Contributions
Five Syracuse players reached double figures Tuesday at SMU. Taylor tied the team lead in scoring with 13 points, his most in a game since notching 19 at California in February. He went 5-of-7 from the field, which included a trio of 3-pointers. He has now made three or more triples on four occasions this season.

Bell also tallied 13 points in a reserve role, going 3-of-5 from beyond-the-arc in his 24 minutes of action. He is averaging 11.7 points over the last three contests. Cuffe added eight points off the bench against the Mustangs and has knocked down four 3-pointers over the last two outings.

Carlos produced 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting against the Mustangs, which included a 3-pointer that beat the halftime buzzer. He also paced the Orange with eight assists and is averaging 8.5 assists over the last two contests.

Scouting Virginia
Isaac McKneely leads Virginia in scoring with 14.2 points per contest and has made the second most 3-pointers in the ACC this season (93). Elijah Saunders is also averaging double figures (10.6 points per game) with Andrew Rohde just short of the mark with 9.6 per outing.

Blake Buchanan (5.4 per game) and Saunders (5.1) are Virginia's top two rebounders on the season. Rhode leads the Cavaliers in assists (122) with McKneely just trailing (90). Buchanan is also pacing Virginia with 35 blocks, tied for No. 8 in the conference, with Jacob Cofie leading the Cavaliers with 31 steals.

As a team, Virginia ranks No. 4 in the ACC in 3-point percentage (38-percent) and No. 7 in free throw percentage (75-percent). The Cavaliers also trail just Duke in the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (1.50) and rank No. 3 in the conference in assists (15.1 per game) and No. 6 in blocks (3.8 per game).

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).

Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Chris Bell

Jaquan Carlos

Anthony Clayton

Kyle Cuffe Jr.

Nate Fleisher

Donnie Freeman

Eddie Lampkin Jr.

Naheem McLeod

J.J. Starling

Lucas Taylor

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