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North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis pinpointed the moment that changed the game for his team.

The Tar Heels just took a 65-64 lead and Syracuse had possession. J.J. Starling had the ball poked loose off his foot, putting him near the half-court line. With the shot clock winding down, Starling heaved the ball from just in front of the court’s Jim Boeheim autograph and banked it in. Syracuse retook the lead and never looked back.

“From that point on, I just felt we just could never catch back up,” Davis said postgame.

The Orange (16-9, 7-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) avenged a 36-point defeat to No. 7 North Carolina (19-6, 11-3 ACC) a month ago with a shocking 86-79 upset. Clutch baskets and free throws complemented by crucial defensive stops down the stretch gave Syracuse its first AP top-10 win since defeating No. 1 Duke in 2019.

Since its buzzer-beater win over Miami, games coming down to the final minutes — and even seconds — have become a familiar sight. Quadir Copeland’s left-wing 3 gave Syracuse a win over the Hurricanes and the Orange narrowly defeated Louisville six days ago 94-92. But at times, Syracuse has been on the losing end, falling by five at Boston College and struggling down the stretch against Clemson Saturday.

But Tuesday, Syracuse made the plays it needed, surviving an onslaught of 12 UNC 3-pointers and earning its first win over the Tar Heels since 2021.

Following Starling’s prayer, SU got the ball to its most reliable option in Judah Mintz, who finished with a game-high 25 points. To get Syracuse to 73 points, he scored six straight, first by quickly breezing past Armando Bacot at the top of the key for a layup. Then, he penetrated toward the elbow, found separation and scored the midrange jumper. He ended the stretch with a pair of free throws, an area where Syracuse made 12 of its 18 conversions from the free-throw line in the final 3:38.

Harrison Ingram helped UNC claw back a couple points with a mid-range jumper, one of his six field goals for 14 points on the night. But Starling came up in the clutch again, scoring another 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Syracuse a seven-point cushion with 2:47 remaining. Starling finished with 23 points.

UNC’s saving grace relied on the 3-pointer. It shot 12-of-27 and occasionally silenced the crowd of the JMA Wireless Dome with conversions from deep range. RJ Davis made a 3 and the Tar Heels were within four.

Syracuse’s ability to steal and create turnovers in the final two minutes helped to close out the game. Bacot had blocked a Starling layup attempt and UNC’s Cormac Ryan corralled possession. But right there was Mintz, who stripped the ball from Ryan and forced the ball off him out of bounds. The play was reviewed and the call was upheld in favor of Syracuse.

“We just knew it was going to come down to getting stops,” Mintz said. “We felt like they couldn’t really guard us or stop us from doing what we wanted to do. It was just going to come down to hitting shots, hitting free throws and getting timely stops.”

Chris Bell missed a jumper on the ensuing possession but got his own rebound and soon began the foul game. Maliq Brown went one-of-two at the line as Syracuse was already in the double bonus. UNC quickly brought the ball up the floor, down by five, but Copeland stole the ball from Ingram.

Brown made both free throws this time, putting Syracuse up by seven with 67 seconds remaining. Starling then secured a steal.

Copeland extended the lead to eight, going 1-of-2 at the line. Shortly after, Ryan, UNC’s best 3-point option, hit his fourth, cutting the deficit to 80-75. The lead was cut to as low as four in the final minute. After a Mintz free throw, Ingram shortened it with a jumper, though Brown made another free throw.

But Copeland secured the biggest steal of the game on UNC’s next possession, face guarding Ryan and taking the ball away. The steal effectively put UNC against the clock and down by six after Copeland made the free throw. Davis couldn’t convert the 3 and Syracuse, slowly but surely, made it to the final buzzer.

“I’m built for those moments,” Copeland said. “I just gotta keep showing them. It’s just being ready for those times, and understanding not to fold when the pressure is on and stuff like that.”

The anticipation was building inside the Dome. The students had been waiting to storm even as UNC inched closer to four points, but in the end, Syracuse wasn’t going to let a close game get away from it again.

“This game today was the best game that we played all year,” SU head coach Adrian Autry said postgame. “I thought everybody played a hand in this victory.”

Published on February 13, 2024 at 11:43 pm

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