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Exactly one month after its first matchup on Jan. 13, Syracuse avenged its 36-point loss to No. 7 UNC. In the first meeting, the Tar Heels handed the Orange their worst-Atlantic Coast Conference defeat ever in a 103-67 drubbing. But Tuesday would be a different story.

The Orange fought with the Tar Heels, matching UNC’s 42 first-half points — 21 of which came from the 3-point line — behind a 62.96% first-half field goal percentage. Both teams were level with each other and Syracuse trailed by just one with seven minutes remaining. But down the final stretch, Syracuse escaped with the 86-79 win, its best of the season.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (16-9, 7-7 ACC) upset over No. 7 North Carolina (19-6, 11-3 ACC):

Down the stretch…again

UNC led 65-64 with six minutes remaining as Syracuse looked to have a lost possession after J.J. Starling had the ball poked loose. Starling regained control and heaved a shot from the Jim Boeheim autograph on the court, which banked home to give Syracuse a 67-65 lead.

Judah Mintz had a stretch of six consecutive points for Syracuse, bringing it up to 73-67. He swiftly drove past Armando Bacot, made an elbow jumper and nailed a pair of free throws. Harrison Ingram got a bucket back with a mid-range jumper inside, trimming it to four with three minutes left, but Starling responded with a 3 and Syracuse led 76-69.

Starling drove to the basket before being stuffed by Ingram. But Quadir Copeland stripped the ball from Cormac Ryan, who lost possession and turned it over as Syracuse had the ball up four with two minutes remaining.

With 84 seconds left, Syracuse regained possession after a review and UNC began the foul game. Maliq Brown made a pair of free throws to put SU up by seven with one minute left.

Hot start to each half

Nearly nine minutes into the game, Syracuse developed a 10-point lead on the Tar Heels — the most it had in the last outing was one early in the first half. Brown made a couple of triples from the top of the key, both of which were assisted by Mintz.

The Orange were aggressive driving into the lane. Mintz and Starling both made tough contested floaters, and Copeland got the crowd going when he drove from the top of the key for an up-and-under layup while avoiding two UNC defenders. Syracuse, who only had 30 points in the first half in the last meeting, had 30 by 7:22 remaining in the first half.

Up 30-22, UNC quickly stormed back, getting 3-pointers from Jalen Washington and RJ Davis. A bucket underneath from Bacot — UNC had a season-high 58 points in the paint versus the Orange last time — had the Tar Heels back within one. And back-to-back 3s from Ingram gave UNC a 37-34 lead, its first since being up 5-3.

To start the second, back-to-back triples from Bell and Starling gave Syracuse a quick 6-0 run and had it up by six. Syracuse’s second-half lead reached as high as nine (53-44), but similarly the Tar Heels’ 3-pointers got themselves back in it, eventually retaking the lead (65-64) with a little over seven minutes remaining.

Post defense

At the Dean E. Smith Center last month, UNC’s success wasn’t from the perimeter, where it made seven first-half 3s Tuesday, but rather in the paint. Initially, UNC looked to attack down low early. To start the game, the Tar Heels went to Bacot, their go-to option inside.

Matching up with Bacot, Brown played tight defense, causing a loose ball out of bounds on the rebound which Justin Taylor couldn’t corral. On a similar play, Harrison Ingram tried to back down Chris Bell and missed the contested fadeaway jumper. On UNC’s final possession in the first half, Taylor poked the ball from behind from Ingram, one of 10 steals Tuesday for the team.

UNC managed to get back into the game early on behind the 3-ball. It would lure Syracuse defenders, often playing in the 2-3 zone, and then kick out for the 3. In the Tar Heels’ brief 9-2 run to get within one late in the first half, Ingram backed down Starling and then kicked to an open Davis at the top of the key.

Playing with foul trouble

With 12:43 left in the second half, Bell picked up his third personal foul. Coming from behind, he attempted to block Bacot’s layup, and was called for contact on the arm.

Syracuse had to be careful, however. Both Brown and Copeland, arguably two of Syracuse’s most aggressive defenders, had two fouls with a little over five minutes remaining in the first, and they were cautious not to pick up any more for a while. The Orange, now with little depth because of injuries, played its seven-man rotation with Mounir Hima and Copeland coping off the bench.

After Davis drove into the lane and scored an and-one with a goaltending call, Starling picked up his second foul with 10 minutes left, the score tied at 58-58.

As for UNC, it was also in foul trouble. League-leading scorer Davis had picked up his third personal foul with just under 16 minutes remaining.

Published on February 13, 2024 at 9:32 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini