SYRACUSE, NY – The 20 turns in North Carolina proved insurmountable in the final stretch, while Syracuse held on to win 72-70. Roy Williams said after the UNC defeat to Marquette that his team could not stand a little prosperity and this was evident on Monday after the victory over the state of Florida.
Tar Heels led by nine on two different occasions in the first half. In the final 6:46 am of that time, they had three field goals to go along with four turnovers to allow Orange to accumulate a six-point lead for the break. The UNC eventually took the lead, 36-35, with 17:41 to play, but Orange capitalized on several turns to reach its biggest advantage of the game, 63-49. Despite that, Tar Heels lost by three with 11.4 seconds, but Caleb Love missed two free throws to extinguish his team’s chance of a turnaround.
The defense of the Syracuse zone once again led to an overwhelming rebound margin in favor of UNC, 53-33, with Armando Bacot leading with 15. UNC was very inefficient at the edge, leading to 25 second chance points in 26 offensive rebounds. .
Buddy Boeheim, who had 18 points in the first half at Chapel Hill, finished with 26 points out of 9 out of 20 shots, including 6 out of 13 in the three point range. Quincy Guerrier, who was dealing with knee pain when entering the game, added 18 points and six rebounds.
Watch and read everything that UNC coach Roy Williams told members of the media after the defeat: