SYRACUSE, NY – North Carolina continued its inconsistent ways at Upstate New York on Monday, suffering a 72-70 loss to Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in its final road game of the season.
UNC (15-9, 9-6 ACC) led 22-13 with 6:46 remaining to play before the break and then any remaining transition from the Florida State’s victory disappeared. Tar Heels had more goals (4) than did field goal (3) in that final stretch, while Syracuse found its pace, converting 8 of 11 field goal attempts (5 of 7 3FG) against a turnover. Orange overcame UNC, 21-6, during that race and closed the semester with 11 unanswered points.
Tar Heels took the lead with 36-35 with 17:41 to play before Syracuse built his biggest advantage of the game at 63-49 with 5:18 to play. UNC charged late with a 10-2 run to pull in 70-68 with 19 seconds to play and Caleb Love went to the free throw with his team losing three points with 11.4 seconds to play, but the freshman both attempts failed and Syracuse sealed his win on the free-throw line.
Armando Bacot led the Tar Heels with 18 points from 7 out of 10 shots and 15 rebounds. Garrison Brooks scored 11 points and Caleb Love added 10 points and eight rebounds. UNC overtook Syracuse 53-33, including a 26-13 lead in offensive glass.
Tar Heels hit 38.2% of the ground, including 20% of three (4 of 20), while Orange hit 40.9% (29.6% 3FG).
Perimeter scoring fights
While the Tar Heels took advantage of their size advantage on the crossbar, their guards were an offensive responsibility, scoring 31 points out of 10 out of 41 shots (4 out of 19 3FG). Kerwin Walton scored two points out of 1 out of 10 shots (0 out of 7 3FG).
Turnovers
The improvement at the end of the season that UNC demonstrated through its 99-54 victory over Louisville has taken a hard turn for the past five days. Syracuse scored 28 points on 20 UNC turnovers, thus creating a 19 point differential in the off point turnover category.
Tar Heels has featured 60 spins in the last three games.
Different result for Boeheim
At the first meeting between these programs in January, Buddy Boeheim provided Syracuse’s attack in the first half, scoring 18 points out of 7 out of 12 shots (4 out of 7 3FG). The story of that game centered on Leaky Black’s ability to block the junior striker and keep him goalless after the break.
On Monday, Boeheim was back to his old antics, feeding Syracuse’s charge in the first half with 17 points out of 6 out of 12 shots (5 out of 9 3FG). Black limited the damage after the break, but failed to stop the Syracuse coach’s son this time. Boeheim finished with 26 points out of 9 out of 20 shots.
Injury note
Puff Johnson did not dress for Monday’s game, marking the tenth consecutive game he lost due to an injury to his right foot. The freshman wing recorded 59 minutes this season.
Next
UNC will host Duke for Senior Night on Saturday (6pm / ESPN). The Blue Devils are currently on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble, after suffering a defeat at home to Louisville in overtime on Saturday. Tar Heels won the first rivalry match in Durham, 91-87, last month.