UPDATE, 11:00 p.m. ET: The Orange defeated Binghamton 85-47 to move to 1-0 on the season, and head coach Adrian Autry said that Starling would be "fine." There was no further detail provided, but it appears that Syracuse has avoided disaster.

8:15 p.m. ET: Not even one full game into the season and the Syracuse men's basketball program is already holding its breath regarding the health of a top player.

JJ Starling, who led the team in scoring a season ago at 17.8 points per game, left Monday's season opener against Binghamton with a lower body injury. He left less than three minutes into the game with Syracuse up 8-0 at the time.

Mike Waters of Syracuse.com reports that he had his thigh wrapped and appeared to be holding his hamstring when he returned to the bench.

Starling, a senior from nearby Baldwinsville, N.Y., spent his freshman season at Notre Dame, but has made an impact in his home area for each of the last two seasons. 

He averaged 13.3 ppg as a sophomore and the 17.8 as a junior. A talented scorer, he shot nearly 41 percent from the floor a season ago.

The Orange are coming off a disappointing season in which they went 14-19 overall and 7-13 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. One of college basketball's proudest programs, they missed the NCAA Tournament entirely, and if they are going to reverse fortunes, they'll need Starling to be healthy.

This story will be updated with postgame information provided from head coach Adrian Autry, but the one thing working in the program's favor is the relative ease of the schedule in the first few weeks of the season.

The Orange will not play again until Saturday, Nov. 8, when they host Delaware State and then they'll take on Drexel on Nov. 15, another week out from game No. 2. They won't see a ranked team until they play Houston on Nov. 24.

Additional info

Syracuse Roundtable will provide on-site coverage from the JMU Wireless Dome for Saturday's contest against Delaware State. Tip-off time is set for 1 p.m. ET.

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