The Syracuse Orange (13-10, 4-6) looked like they were headed for an embarrassing performance but a late rally showed some fight as they drop a 87-77 decision to the #19 North Carolina Tar Heels (18-4, 6-3).
Donnie Freeman led Syracuse with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Naithan George (15) and JJ Starling (13) were finally effective late in the game as the Orange scored 32 points in the final 7:30 of play. Caleb Wilson led UNC with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Henri Veesar added 17 and 11 for the Tar Heels.
It was a slow and sloppy start for both teams as the game went to the first media timeout with Caleb Wilson leading Syracuse 4-2. UNC got their offense going first and pulled ahead 11-2 before the Orange bench was activated and Donnie Freeman got going with 6 points and got Syracuse back within 2 at 12-10.
Then came another dip as UNC got a 5-0 run that forced a timeout from Adrian Autry. That didn’t help matters as the Tar Heels extended to a 25-12 lead including a “four-steps this time” 3 from Jonathan Powell.
Syracuse fought back though and a 3 from Freeman made it 29-23 with 4:24 to go. It looked like maybe the Orange had found some steady ground, but then the turnover trouble re-emerged. Carolina closed the half on a 19-9 run including 12 points in the final 2:20 of the half as Autry tried to get Freeman some rest.
Syracuse went into the break down 46-32 and it was only that close after Freeman banked in a 3 at the buzzer. He finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds, but 9 Orange turnovers helped UNC to get easy shots as they finished the half shooting 53% from the field and 55% from 3- led by Wilson’s 13 points.
The bank shot didn’t provide any lift after the break Syracuse’s struggles continued. UNC poured it on starting with a 23-8 run as the ESPN broadcast turned into an extended preview of this weekend’s UNC-Duke game.
It was 73-45 with 7:30 to play but something got Syracuse to finally wake up. The Orange showed some heart as they cut it to a 6 point lead in the final minute, but were unable to pull off a miracle. Syracuse only committed one turnover in the second half and we’ll all wonder why it took them over 30 minutes to finally play with some desperation.
Syracuse is back in action at Virginia this Saturday and at this point it seems as though the Orange won’t play any meaningful games in February or March. Can they find a way to give fans a glimmer of hope or is going to be six more weeks of misery?
