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Eddie Lampkin Jr.’s arrival at Syracuse gave it a true back to the basket big man it severely lacked last season. Following the departure of Jesse Edwards — who transferred to West Virginia — SU’s frontcourt had a gaping hole in the 2023-24 season. Maliq Brown did an effective job of filling that, though Brown is a natural power forward and not a true center.

Brown transferred to Duke in the offseason and Lampkin was brought in to play center. The Colorado transfer is a true throwback. Lampkin doesn’t dabble on the perimeter by shooting countless 3-pointers — he has just four attempts on the season — or try to beat players with crossover moves that some modern bigs enjoy. When Lampkin gets the ball, he’s going to try back down whoever’s guarding him and overpower them with his size.

It’s pure bully ball at times. He displayed that Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough for Syracuse.

Lampkin had one of his best displays of the season, scoring 22 points and pulling in 13 rebounds, albeit in a losing effort. Despite Lampkin’s presence down low, Syracuse (11-14, 5-9 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t overcome Miami (6-18, 2-11 Atlantic Coast), falling 91-84. The center’s outing was his 10th double-double of the season and the most points he’s scored this season, yet he received little help from anyone else in the frontcourt. Outside of Lampkin, the frontcourt totaled just nine points.

“He was aggressive. Eddie plays hard. That’s the one thing he does every game. He brings it,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said postgame.

Syracuse’s plan in the first half was to feed Lampkin early and often. Players dumped the ball into the 6-foot-11 big man and let him go to work. He punished Lynn Kidd on a couple of occasions. First, he used his body to get deep positioning in the paint. Then, Kidd looked to help on J.J. Starling after Lampkin set a screen. Kidd was too slow to get back on Lampkin, who emphatically slammed the ball home to cut an early SU deficit down to 9-8.

Lampkin’s aggressiveness continued to be a factor throughout. He kept on backing down Kidd at will. On the left side, right side, or even in the middle, Lampkin found his groove. Miami could only foul to prevent him from depositing two points.

That wasn’t the worst decision, considering Lampkin came to Coral Gables with a 54.1% free throw percentage. Miami made him earn it from the line, which he did. Lampkin finished 6-for-6 at the charity stripe — all of which came in the first half — which was the most free throws he’s made all season. It was only the second time he’s gone 100% from the line as well.

Lampkin hit a pair of free throws with 4:53 remaining in the first half to tie the game at 27-27. It increased Lampkin’s point total to 12 on just four shots, which was the most of any Syracuse player in the first half. Though the Orange trailed 43-37 at the break.

With Lampkin’s scoring ability, he often draws plenty of double teams, which opens up passing lanes for him. He’s shown himself to be a willing passer this season, averaging 2.3 assists and nearly accumulating a triple-double against Youngstown State on Nov. 16.

Coming out of halftime, Lampkin’s impact was felt more with his passing. Syracuse trailed by six, and the big man drew back-to-back double teams after catching the ball around the paint. Without hesitation, Lampkin made the same play twice. First, he hit Starling for a wide-open 3. The ensuing possession Lampkin fed Kyle Cuffe Jr. in the same spot for another triple. The 3s helped tie the game 52-52 five minutes in.

“For me, I just care about winning. I don’t really care about scoring the ball,” Lampkin said.

Syracuse continued its momentum. Jaquan Carlos knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Orange in front before Lampkin produced another one-handed flush to increase Syracuse’s lead to 61-58. That was its final lead of the night.

SU’s defense struggled, and it went away from getting the ball to Lampkin. Miami surrounded him with multiple bodies to prevent him from catching the ball. It led to fewer touches, much to the disappointment of Autry

“I thought we could have gotten in there a little bit more, but for some reason, we couldn’t take the passes in there,” Autry said.

Across seven minutes following Lampkin’s dunk, he attempted just one field goal, which was an attempted tip-in. By the time Lampkin scored with 2:16 remaining, the Orange trailed by seven. Considering the way SU defended — allowing Miami to shoot 55% from the field — the lead was too much to overcome.

Lampkin added four more points in garbage time, though Syracuse never had a sniff at a comeback, letting one of his marquee performances this season go to waste.

Published on February 11, 2025 at 11:44 pm

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