A big blow to the Orange offense
Syracuse Orange star J.J. Starling is out for Tuesday night’s game against No. 3 Tennessee with a left-hand injury, per release.
J.J. Starling suffered a left hand injury at practice on Monday. He traveled with the team to Tennessee but will not play tonight. pic.twitter.com/KZrsVajEmn
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 3, 2024
The release said that the injury was suffered in practice on Monday and that Starling did travel with the team to Knoxville.
The depleted Orange take on the undefeated Volunteers on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Syracuse opened as a 19.5-point underdog (ESPN) against the Vols before Starling’s injury was reported.
Syracuse radio play-by-play announcer Matt Park reports that Starling’s hand is broken, and it will hold him out indefinitely.
Orange G J.J. Starling recently broke his left (non-shooting) hand in practice. He is unavailable indefinitely.
The long-awaited Chance Westry debut may come tonight.
The Orange visit Tennessee in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Tipoff 7:30. pic.twitter.com/jvO8VqIJVn— Matt Park (@MattPark1) December 3, 2024
Starling leads the team with 19.8 points per game, and is also fourth on the Orange in rebounding (4.5 per game), and third in assists (3.0).
He has only come off the court for 12% of Syracuse’s minutes this season, so SU will have to mix and match tonight, trotting out lineups that haven’t played much at all together.
Freshman Elijah Moore played his best game of the season last Wednesday against Cornell, and will likely take on a bigger role in Starling’s absence. Additionally, Chance Westry may be forced into action for his Syracuse debut with the backcourt depth chart taking a hit.
Looking ahead, SU takes on Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday, before returning home to face UAlbany and Georgetown. That’s followed by another trip to Brooklyn to battle Maryland right before Christmas.