Syracuse Men’s Basketball loses big at home to Louisville

SAM CORCORAN: When SU needs buckets, it usually goes to its leader, J.J. Starling. Entering tonight, the Orange guard netted double figures in each game this season. But tonight, Starling netted just four points as Louisville steamrolled Syracuse 85 to 61 in the Dome. And after the game, Starling looked deflated and visibly upset in the locker room, and says this feeling is one he’ll remember for a long time.

J.J. STARLING: This is the first time I felt like, you know, I personally got punked. So I don’t ever want to have this feeling, you know, ever again. So, you know, I’m gonna make sure I watch film and go back in the gym and clean some things up so that this never happens again.

ADRIAN AUTRY: We, you know, we have to do a better job of, you know, getting him maybe below the foul line, and sometimes on top of the foul line, just got to do a better job of getting into them. But obviously, he’s our go to guy. And, you know, he’s on the top of the scouting report. So you know, teams are going to do different things, you know. So you know, we will be prepared for that.

CORCORAN: While Starling’s struggles definitely impacted SU tonight, Kyle Cuffe said…

KYLE CUFFE: We all got to keep each other up.

CORCORAN: And he’d be spot on. Louisville dominated Syracuse in almost every statistical category tonight. Leading the way for the Cardinals – Chuckie Hepburn with 24 points. And for reference, that’s one fewer point than SU’s entire starting lineup – that includes J J Starling. And up next for SU, a date with Starling’s former team. Notre Dame visits the Dome on Saturday at 4 p.m. Earlier in the season, Notre Dame took down Syracuse in South Bend. But until then, reporting from the JMA Wireless Dome, Sam Corcoran, CitrusTV.