Will his return help the Orange gain some momentum the rest of the way?
The Syracuse Orange had just watched a 35-30 lead become a 38-35 deficit with 11:05 to play on Tuesday night. Georgia Tech headed to the foul line having seized momentum and you could hear the collective groans from the Dome faithful.
It looked like Syracuse was going to collapse down the stretch yet again and drop to the bottom of the ACC. That’s when Junior guard JJ Starling stepped up and took over. After the missed free throw, Starling tied the game with his only 3-pointer of the night.
Just a little over a minute later he hit a tough jumper to break a 40-40 tie and start a 7-0 Orange run. Down the stretch, Starling kept making plays to push Syracuse to a must-needed win. He scored off an offensive rebound, he hit another tough jumper with 1:14 to go to push the lead to six points and he knocked down a one-and-one with 27 seconds to play and the Orange lead down to three.
After the game, Starling talked about the injury and how he tried to deal with being out while the team was struggling.
“It was very hard just mentally. Basketball is so much of a big part of my life. I looked to my family. I looked to God. I prayed about it. My teammates and my coaches, they really kept me up. I did what I could when I was off the court. I was getting mental reps, watching film so I could stay ready and mentally locked in when I came back,” Starling said.
Having him back on the court has helped Chris Bell, who has scored in double-figures in both games.
“For me personally it is emotional and mental for me,” Bell said of Starling’s return. “When he’s out there it makes my job a whole lot easier. People drop off shifts. I can play off him just like last year when I was able to play off him and Judah (Mintz) and Maliq (Brown). He opens it up for everybody.”
In the final eleven minutes, Starling scored 11 points and showed he was the guy who wanted the ball in the clutch. Can this win give the Orange some confidence after a terrible start to the season? We’ll find out if they can carry this over when they head to Boston College this weekend, but on Tuesday night Starling closed out a game that Syracuse desperately needed.
ACC win at the Dome pic.twitter.com/WV4garqoY1
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) January 8, 2025