Syracuse travels to Boston College on Saturday

Syracuse (7-8, 1-3 ACC) earned its first ACC win of the season earlier this week and travels to Boston to face Boston College (9-6, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday. The Conte Forum competition is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on The CW.

Setting the stage
The Orange celebrated their first conference triumph of the season on Tuesday, defeating Georgia Tech 62-55 at the JMA Wireless Dome. In his second game back from injury JJ Starling achieved the best team performance with 21 points Eddie Lampkin Jr. He recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

In their last game, Boston College lost to the Yellow Jackets 85-64. Chad Venning and Elijah Strong combined for 35 points for the Eagles. Prior to that loss, the Eagles won their first ACC contest of the season on January 1 against Miami. Boston College started its conference schedule with two losses to Wake Forest and SMU.

Boston College is led by fourth-year head coach Earl Grant, who led the Eagles to their highest win total since 2010-11 with 20 wins last season. He also led Boston College to the second round of the NIT a season ago.

The Syracuse-Boston College Series
Syracuse leads the series against Boston College 58-27. The teams split two decisions last season: Syracuse won 69-59 at the Dome and the Eagles defended their home court 80-75. Before Boston College’s win last season, the Orange had won 11 straight meetings between the teams.

The Orange are 23-15 against the Eagles on the road, including a 16-8 record at the Conte Forum. Since the Orange joined the ACC, Syracuse has not lost consecutive games to Boston College.

Welcome back, JJ
Starling has picked up where he left off since returning from injury, as Syracuse’s leading scorer has reached double figures in each of the last two contests. He scored double-digit points in all eight appearances this season.

Against Georgia Tech, Starling scored 21 points by shooting an efficient 9 of 16 from the field against the Orange. It was his third time eclipsing the 20-point mark this season. He added five points and tied his career high with two blocks against the Yellow Jackets.

Starling is averaging 19 points per appearance on the campaign. His 38 points in the Orange’s double-overtime win over Youngstown State are still the most by an ACC player in a game this season.

Ring the bell
After starting the first 75 games of his career at Syracuse, Chris Bell has made an impression as a substitute player in the last two competitions. Bell posted one of his best points performances of the season last weekend against Florida State as the junior scored 18 points, his second-most points in a game this season. He made 4 of 4 from distance against the Seminoles and 6 of 7 from the free throw line.

Bell started well after starting the game against Georgia Tech, hitting his first three shots en route to a 13-point night. This season, Bell leads the Orange with 16 triples.

Lampkin delivers
Lampkin Jr. has collected double-digit rebounds in four of the last five games and is averaging 4.2 offensive boards in that stretch. He also achieved two of his four double-doubles in the last five games against Bucknell (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Georgia Tech (10 points, 12 rebounds).

Taylor time

Lucas Taylor has paced Syracuse’s offense in recent games, particularly from beyond the arc. The junior guard is 12 of 24 (50 percent) from deep in the last five games and has scored multiple times in each of those games.

Taylor has scored in double figures in three straight games, highlighted by a season-high 16 points against Wake Forest. He scored 10 points in Syracuse’s first ACC win of the season against Georgia Tech.

Davis does everything
Jyare Davis came on from injury for the fourth time this season against Georgia Tech Donnie Freeman. He delivered an outstanding overall performance with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Davis has seven games with at least five points and five rebounds this season. He ranks third on the team with 5.3 per game and is shooting over 53 percent from the field while averaging 8.4 points.

Crash the glass
As a team, Syracuse grabs 39.1 rebounds per contest, third-most in the ACC. The Orange boast a plus-4.4 margin this season and have posted double-digit offensive numbers 10 times on the season, including in five of the last six contests.

Three different Syracuse players have grabbed 10 or more rebounds in a game this season – Donnie Freeman (seven times), Eddie Lampkin Jr. (six times) and Jyare Davis (once). Lampkin has scored double figures in four of his last five games, while Freeman has scored double figures in two of his last three appearances.

Scouting Boston College
Donald Hand. Jr. is Boston College’s leading scorer this season with 14.3 points per contest. His 24 made 3-pointers are the most on the Eagles, as are his 7.3 rebounds per game. Venning (12.3) and Strong (10.8) also average double figures.

Chas Kelley III has a team-best 38 assists despite starting just nine of Boston College’s 15 games. Venning leads the Eagles with 22 blocks, while Hand Jr. and Roger McFarlane lead Boston College with 12 steals each.

As a team, the Eagles rank 7th in the ACC in rebounding with 37.3 per contest. Boston College ranks last in the conference in field goal percentage, hitting just 42.9 percent of its shots.

Freeman, Lampkin Jr. make preseason watch lists
Freeman is one of 20 players who made the preseason watch list for the 2025 Karl Malone Award, which recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s basketball. Freeman, a McDonald’s All-American and the second-highest ranked Syracuse recruit in program history, is one of two freshmen to make this year’s Malone Award watch list.

Freeman has six double-doubles on the season and the rookie is averaging 15.3 points in his last nine appearances. During that time he has scored 15 or more goals in six games.

Lampkin Jr. is one of 20 candidates on the preseason watch list for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which goes to the best center in men’s college basketball. Lampkin Jr. is in his first year with the Orange and is averaging 9.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game with four double-doubles.

The list for both awards will be narrowed down to ten at the end of January and just five at the end of February. In March, the five finalists for both awards will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar, Malone and the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, where the winners will be selected.

Orange fans are encouraged to take part in three rounds of fan voting presented by Dell Technologies on Hoophallawards.com.

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).