HOUSTON — Syracuse (23-14, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) fell, 83-66, to North Carolina (33-6, 14-4) at NRG Stadium on Saturday night. That ended the Orange’s season one game shy of the national championship game, and the Tar Heels will now face Villanova for the title on Monday. Here are three quick thoughts on SU’s last game of an incredible Tournament run.

1. Saving your bullets

North Carolina missed its first 12 3-point attempts, and Syracuse was scratching back into the game. That’s when Marcus Paige gathered himself on the left wing as the clock ticked toward the nine-minute mark of the second half, and drained his team’s first 3 to give it a 10-point lead.

Two possessions later, after Trevor Cooney’s 3-pointer jumper hit all sides of the rim before dropping in, Theo Pinson rose up from that same left wing and rattled in a 3 that bumped UNC’s lead to 12. It was a late start for the Tar Heels’ perimeter threats, but those two shots went a long way in holding SU down.

At the 5:29 mark, with the Orange press fully on and the lead cut back to 10, Paige was wide open on the left wing and knocked down another. Three minutes later, he stood in the same spot and stroked a 3 that pushed his team’s lead to 77-64 and permanently put Syracuse out of reach.

There were moments that it seemed that Syracuse was on its way to another dramatic late-game comeback. Paige and Pinson teamed to deflate those fleeting possibilities. UNC’s 0-for-10 mark from 3 was the reason SU trailed 39-28 at halftime, but the deep ball played a big complimentary role down the stretch as the Tar Heels continually pounded the ball inside with success.

2. Too little, too late

Along with the late Syracuse press, Trevor Cooney made a late offensive push to try and stabilize the Orange’s slim chances at a comeback. But star point guard Michael Gbinije never did enough to fully put Syracuse in a favorable position.

SU’s perimeter scoring threats — Cooney, Gbinije and freshman Malachi Richardson — shot 7-for-26 from the field in the first half. Cooney and Richardson picked it up in the second, but Gbinije never followed suit. He finished with 12 points shooting 5-for-18 from the field and 0-of-5 from 3. Cooney ended up with a team-high 22 and Richardson with 17, but they needed the third part of the crew to stick with the high-octane Tar Heels.

3. Pounding the paint

Syracuse had opportunities to pack the paint against North Carolina, but was never truly successful in doing so. The Tar Heels never shot well from 3 in the game, but got a combined 31 points from front-court scorers Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks to keep the Orange at arm’s length.

When SU mounted improbable comebacks in the last few rounds of the Tournament, its defense spurred them. But the 2-3 zone or full-court press were never quite strong enough to stave off the Tar Heels hulking front line and talented guards. In the end, that’s what ultimately did the Orange in one game shy of the national championship game.

Published on April 2, 2016 at 9:57 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse