Observations from the Orange’s first All-Coast Conference game ever.
The Syracuse Orange in a late-night tip-off faced its first ever ACC West Coast opponent Wednesday… and the results were interesting to say the least.
The start for the Orange couldn’t be more disastrous, going score less for the game’s nearly first eight minutes and falling behind as much as 23 points not even halfway into the first half. Some shooting regression from Stanford and better two-way play allowed Syracuse to get the deficit within six points, but ultimately the hole it found itself in was too much to overcome.
As always, here are your takeaways from Syracuse’s 70-61 road loss to Stanford:
Sluggish start (eventually) dooms the Orange
Some credit should be given for how Syracuse responded, particularly on defense late in the first half and mainly on offense in the second. That being said, it’s hard to dance around the fact the (very) slow start put the Orange in a tough position right from the gate.
Syracuse’s first 11 possessions yielded four turnovers and an 0/7 start from the field. The Orange were getting no penetration in the lane and settling for difficult shots, mainly from long-two and three-point territory. Stanford was on fire early, led by a quick 8 points and rebounds from Maxime Raynaud (who ended the game with 21 points and 15 rebounds).
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It took about seven and a half minutes before Kyle Cuffe got a bucket inside to cut the lengthy scoring drought. By then, Stanford was up 17-0 and would go up as much as 25-2 on the night. The Orange made just two field goals in the game’s first 10 minutes.
The shift came toward the end of the first half, with the Orange going on a long 20-4 run over roughly 7-8 minutes to only go down by nine (33-24) at halftime.
The second half saw both offenses clicking, with each team shooting at least 50% from the field and Syracuse knocking down over 54% of his shots. The Orange got within six (62-56) with about three and a half minutes to go, but Syracuse’s offense lost steam and Stanford executed late.
Starling held in check
It was a performance eerily similar to Syracuse’s game a few weeks back versus Louisville for J.J. Starling.
Syracuse’s go-to scorer in that game versus the Cardinals was held to four points on 1/7 shooting, and the Orange were held to just 61 points. Against Stanford, Starling had just seven points on 3/16 shooting, including 1/7 from deep.
For context, it was one of Starling’s most inefficient performances on the year (18.8%, second-lowest field goal percentage in 2024-25).
Photo by Trinity Machan/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Starling was averaging nearly 21 points in his last three games, but it’s clear defenses are starting to really put the pressure on him and force others on Syracuse to create. He will continue to be the go-to scorer and the fault will of course not entirely be on him considering the circumstances, but the Orange with where they are at will find it tough to eek out wins if their top offensive hub can’t at least be solid.
A surprise spark from Carlos
Easily the biggest shock of the night: an offensive spark from Jaquan Carlos off the bench.
Carlos tied his season-high with 16 points (going 6/6 from the floor and 2/2 from three). He would lead all Syracuse players in points. Carlos also finished a team-high plus-seven on the game.
The key stat: 33 minutes. Carlos came in for Elijah Moore (5 minutes, 0/1 shooting) and essentially played the rest of the game. For this matchup where the offense really stalled out of the gate, Carlos at least showed the ability to change the pace and give Syracuse another ball-handler out there to get the scoring going.
Familiar trends resurface
The bigger picture stories from this season once again manifested in this Stanford matchup.
The notable one: losing the turnover battle (again).
Syracuse gave the ball up 14 times, compared to just nine for Stanford. The Cardinals outscored the Orange by 10 (19-9) in points off turnovers. That was the main scoring differential in this game, considering the numbers were similar for rebounding, free throws and three-point efficiency. Syracuse even shot 3% better than Stanford by the final buzzer.
The Orange did a slightly better job defensively late in that first half and the intensity was certainly higher, but the possession battle continues to be an uphill hurdle for this team.
Now it’s your turn: what are your takeaways from the Orange’s loss to Stanford?