Orange back in Brooklyn for Gotham Classic Against Maryland

On December 22, 2024By Littum

Syracuse (5-5) returns to Brooklyn on Saturday to face Maryland (9-2) in the Gotham Classic at the Barclays Center. It will be the third game for the Orange in the Barclays this season and will be televised live on ESPN, with tip-off scheduled for midday.

Setting the scene
Orange dropped their 100th^th meeting against Georgetown last weekend at the JMA Wireless Dome, 75-71. Eddie Lampkin Jr. scored a team-high 18 points, while Jyare Davis and Jaquan Carlos adding their own 15 points. Elijah Moore also reached double figures with 10 points.

The Terrapins are coming off a 111-57 triumph against Saint Francis on Tuesday. Five Maryland players scored 10 or more points, led by Shelton Miguel’s 24. Maryland has split two early Big Ten Conference games with a 24-point win against Ohio State and a narrow five-point loss at No. 8 Purdue. The loss to the Boilermakers snapped a five-game winning streak.

Maryland is led by head coach Kevin Willard, who is in his third year at the helm of the program after successful stints at Iona and Seton Hall. Willard took the Terrapins to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 and eclipsed 300 wins as a head coach last season.

Syracuse-Maryland series
Maryland leads the head-to-head, 5-4, but the Orange have won the last four meetings between the teams. Their most recent clash came on Nov. 27, 2017, when Syracuse edged Maryland, 72-70, as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Syracuse’s marquee win against the Terrapins came in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Maryland’s last win in the series came in 1980.

Carlos Rising

Jaquan Carlos has turned in the top two scoring performances of his tenure at Syracuse in his last two outings. The senior recorded a 12-point, 12-assist double-double against Albany. He backed that up with a season-best 15 points against Georgetown.

Carlos’ double-double was the first to include assists since Judah Mintz posted 10 points and 13 assists against Miami on January 20, 2024. His 47 assists this season lead the Orange and are seventh in the ACC.

After shooting just 11 free throws in the first eight games this season, Carlos has made 15 trips to the line in the last two contests. He converted on 14 of those attempts, which included an 8-for-8 effort against the Hoyas.

Davis delivers
Davis has been a steady contributor for Syracuse this season off the bench and as a starter. The senior has scored 15 or more points in three straight games, which included a 20-point effort off the bench against Notre Dame. Against Georgetown on Saturday, Davis delivered 15 points in 24 minutes of action.

Davis has reached double-digit points four times off the bench this season. He posted a double-double in Syracuse’s season-opening win against Le Moyne with 22 points and 12 boards. He has pulled down at least five rebounds on six occasions this season.

Crashing The Glass
As a team, Syracuse averages 38.7 rebounds per game. contest, the fifth most in the ACC. The Orange has a plus-4.7 rebounding margin on the season and has grabbed double-digit offensive boards six times on the campaign. Against Georgetown on Saturday, Syracuse finished with 10 offensive rebounds.

Back in Brooklyn
Syracuse competed at the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center on March 21-22. November. The Orange fell to Texas, 70-66, in the semifinals before falling to Texas Tech in the third, 79-74.

Scouting Maryland
The Terrapins, who receive votes in both the AP and Coaches polls, have dominated in their nine wins this season by an average margin of victory of 34 points in those games. Maryland’s 87.8 points per games as a team is tied for ninth among Division I programs. The Terrapins defeated Villanova, 76-75, in their only neutral site game so far this season at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Five Maryland players are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Derik Queen’s 17.3 per game. competition. Ja’Kobi Gillespie (13.8), Rodney Rice (12.6), Julian Reese (12.1) and Miguel (11.2) are also averaging double figures. Gillespie, Rice and Miguel have all knocked down at least 20 triples this season as the Terrapins shoot 36 percent from beyond the arc.

Reese and Queen both average over eight boards per game. contest to lead the Terrapins and is tied for the team lead with 12 blocks. Gillespie’s 38 assists and 17 assists pace the team.

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

Freeman is Syracuse’s second-leading scorer this season at 13.4 points per game. He had a career-best 24 points last week in a win over Albany and has posted four double-doubles in the team’s first 10 games.

Lampkin Jr. is one of 20 preseason watch list candidates for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which goes to the top center in men’s college basketball. Lampkin Jr. is in his first year with the Orange and is averaging 9.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. competition with two double-doubles.

The list for both awards will be narrowed to 10 at the end of January, and then to 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’s selection committee, where the winners will be selected.

Orange fans are encouraged to participate in three rounds of fan voting, presented by Dell Technologies, at 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 at X (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (@cuse_mbb).