Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

CHESTNUT HILL — With 8:51 remaining, Syracuse found itself down eight points. Boston College’s Chas Kelley III knocked down the first of a pair of free throws, extending BC’s lead to 54-46.

Then came an Orange avalanche. SU’s Kyle Cuffe Jr. started with a driving layup. Eddie Lampkin Jr. converted a hook shot, and Cuffe got to the charity stripe and knocked down two free throws. Now trailing by two, Jyáre Davis finished inside. J.J. Starling corralled his own rebound and put it up-and-in, leaning toward the right baseline.

All of a sudden, just three minutes and 11 seconds later, SU was back on top.

Syracuse (8-8, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Boston College (9-7, 1-4 ACC) 79-71, fighting back from an eight-point deficit in the second half with a quick 10-0 run and a 33-17 advantage across the final nine minutes.

A gauntlet awaits the Orange with games against powerhouses like Duke and North Carolina and new heavyweights in Louisville, Clemson and Pitt. But Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Syracuse notched a signature comeback win for its second straight ACC triumph after an 0-3 start to conference play.

“Our team’s composure was unbelievable. They didn’t get frantic. They just kept going,” SU head coach Adrian Autry said postgame.

J.J. Starling was the catalyst for SU’s rally, totaling 20 second-half points and 10 across the final five minutes and change. But he was also the beginning spark.

The junior put SU in front early, muscling his way inside for an early floater. On the other end, Starling secured a poor pass from Donald Hand Jr., quickly turning it into a mid-range jumper for Davis.

As the Orange started hot, the Eagles returned the favor. Led by Hand, BC’s leading scorer with 14.3 points per game, a mid-range jumper, and a 3 gave Boston College a 13-12 lead seven minutes in. Out of the first media timeout, Georgia State transfer Lucas Taylor knocked down a pair of triples and assisted one to Jaquan Carlos, putting Syracuse in front 21-13.

From there, SU collapsed. BC stormed back to cut into Syracuse’s lead, and as the final buzzer neared, Joshua Beadle beat it to tie the game 32-32 at the break.

Basketball is a game of momentum. And the Eagles used the buzzer beater to their advantage. Chad Venning worked inside for an and-one just 12 seconds into the second half. Venning went at Lampkin and produced seven points in the first four minutes of play.

BC then built a 22-14 run across the first 11 minutes of the second half. Starling produced with a stagnant offense and iso ball to pair, but it wasn’t enough to match the Eagles. The Orange had dug themselves into a hole. And it was a familiar tale.

“We’ve been in games like this all year,” Autry said. “We’ve come up on the short end of them sometimes, but we’ve been in games like this and just stay composed.”

After it looked like BC was stealing the game, the Orange flipped it back in their favor with a 10-0 run. BC tied it at 56-56 on a Beadle jumper. Then, it was Cuffe who lit the match.

With just under five minutes to go, Cuffe lined up a triple and sank it, marking Syracuse’s first of the half. Venning answered with a tip-in, but then it was Cuffe’s time again.

In his second year with the Orange, Cuffe provides a spark off the bench. He’s yet to start a game in his 43-game college career but saw increased minutes in Starling’s absence. Since Starling’s return, Cuffe’s continued to contribute. His involvement against the Eagles in the final minutes was crucial.

Syracuse led by one with 3:51 left. Out of a timeout, Starling inbounded the ball, and Cuffe went to work. He curled around Lampkin and Davis in the paint, making his way right to left into the corner.

The Eagles left him unguarded, and after a slight hesitation, he made them pay.

“I was wide open, so I held it, just surveyed the scene and then I took the shot,” Cuffe said. “I was confident in it, so I took it.”

Cuffe created the necessary separation, but Starling brought SU to the finish line.

In just his second game back from injury on Tuesday, Starling’s 21 points willed the Orange to victory over Georgia Tech. Cuffe said despite their first ACC victory, Starling’s message to the team remains the same: don’t have high highs, don’t have low lows. The message asks his teammates to stay calm and keep pushing. The same went for when Syracuse reached its highs, nearing the final buzzer.

Starling started the game strong but missed his next five shots, finishing the half with six points on 3-of-8 shooting. He came out in the second half admittedly more aggressive. Starling said postgame his first-half limitations were more on his own inability rather than BC’s containment.

As the second half started, Starling got to the hoop with ease. Then, when Syracuse needed a closer, Starling emerged.

After Cuffe’s second 3, Starling extended the lead to six with a layup at the three-minute mark. Beadle answered with a jumper, but Starling maneuvered inside for another lay-in.

“It’s just me using my speed,” Starling said. “I feel like people can’t really stay in front of me. So as soon as I see you open up your hips, I’m just gonna attack it.”

Lamkpin and Venning later shared free throws, and Starling again used his speed to score inside, pushing SU’s lead to 70-61 with 1:23 to play — its largest lead of the game. SU and BC shared scores the rest of the way as Syracuse finished it at the free throw line.

Cuffe’s first 3 created a lead the Orange never surrendered. Starling added two free throws with 10 seconds left to seal the deal, bringing his total to 26 and Syracuse’s lead to eight.

It wasn’t a perfect performance. Syracuse had to claw its way to a win. But when it mattered most, the Orange showed up.

“We did a really good job putting 40 minutes together. They went on a run and they had momentum, but we stayed the course,” Starling said. “We could have easily faltered and not played hard, but we stayed together and made plays.”

Published on January 11, 2025 at 5:28 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky