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

Syracuse faced one of its largest deficits of the season in the first half against Stanford, trailing 25-2 while turning the ball over four times across the first nine minutes.

While none of SU’s starters could find any rhythm, Jaquan Carlos provided a spark off the bench. After entering the game midway through the first half, Carlos scored five points in less than four minutes. The Hofstra transfer’s energy propelled the Orange on a 20-4 run, helping them pull within seven points of Stanford a few minutes before halftime.

“(He gave us) what we needed.” SU head coach Adrian Autry said. “He kept us fighting, kept us close. He played very well today.”

Carlos picked up where he left off in the second half and tied his season-high with 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting. However, it wasn’t enough as Syracuse (9-12, 3-7 ACC) fell 70-61 to Stanford (15-6, 7-3 ACC). In an up-and-down season, which has seen him go from a starter to reserve, the point guard scored in double figures for the fifth time while playing 33 minutes.

Four days after SU’s starters combined for 49 points against Pittsburgh, none of them could hit a shot in the game’s opening minutes. When Syracuse trailed 17-0, Carlos heard Autry telling the team to prioritize its defense. Carlos entered the game around the 13-minute mark and took the reins of the offense soon after.

“We got off to a slow start, and I just tried to come in and bring energy and try to uplift,” Carlos said.

Within a minute of checking in, SU got on the board with a layup by Kyle Cuffe Jr. Soon after, Carlos followed suit, getting into the paint for a mid-range jumper.

By the 7:05 minute mark of the first half, Syracuse trailed 25-9, and Carlos had scored five points. Carlos’ and Cuffe’s play on both ends slowed down the Cardinal, allowing the Orange to put a small dent in their deficit.

“When you get down like that, you just gotta say ‘one stop at a time,’” Autry said. “I thought we did that. When (Carlos) and (Cuffe) came in, they gave us a big lift, we started getting some stops … Our energy picked up.”

Then, Carlos started setting the table for SU starters J.J. Starling and Lucas Taylor. At the 6:46 mark of the first half, Carlos found Taylor in the corner with a bounce pass that led to a triple. The basket was also the first by an SU starter in the contest.

On the next possession, the Orange ran their offense through Carlos. Starling and Carlos executed a back-and-forth pass before Starling drove the lane for a layup.

With under five minutes left in the first half, Carlos helped SU turn defense into offense. Starling poked the ball away from Ryan Agarwal and Carlos led the break before going back to Starling for a corner triple. The basket cut Syracuse’s deficit to 29-20 and forced Stanford to call a timeout.

In the final minutes before halftime, Carlos continued to orchestrate SU’s offense. He found Jyáre Davis for his third assist of the game and then went coast to coast for a layup, propelling SU to a 33-24 halftime deficit after facing a 23-point deficit earlier in the half.

Unlike other halves this season, where Autry has begun the second half with his starters on the floor, the second-year head coach kept Carlos on the floor out of the break. Carlos rewarded the decision.

Despite being SU’s leading scorer through 20 minutes, Stanford left Carlos wide open on the right side of the arc and he made them pay by knocking down a triple.

Though Carlos’ production dwindled over the next six minutes, he stayed on the court. At the 9:23 minute mark of the second half, Carlos hit another 3, marking the first time this season he’s hit multiple triples in a contest.

Syracuse worked to cut its deficit to as low as six with 3:33 left in the second half, but it couldn’t make the final push needed to pull out the road victory.

Carlos added three more points in the final minutes to bring his tally to 16, marking the first time he’d reached double figures since Dec. 31 against Wake Forest. Amid an up-and-down year, Autry liked what he saw from his transfer-portal point guard Wednesday night.

“He’s had a rough start a little bit,” Autry said. “Obviously, the last couple of weeks he’s steadied the ship for us. He was really good, he gave us great energy today.”

Published on January 30, 2025 at 12:47 pm

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32