By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — It all seemed to be coming together for North Carolina before it nearly fell apart.
With a 32-point lead, the No. 14 Tar Heels slipped into cruise control with 10 minutes left, lost focus and put the brakes on most of what they had done to build the lead.
UNC had to withstand a 32–8 Syracuse run to pull within six before holding on for an 87–77 victory at the Smith Center on Monday for its fourth consecutive win.
“We always talk about finishing possessions, finishing halves, finishing games, and that’s just unacceptable,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Just a departure from what allowed us to get the lead.”
Those elements that made Carolina look so impressive in the first 30 minutes were good shots, taking care of the basketball, executing defensively without fouling and boxing out under the boards.
“We’ll watch the film and learn from it,” Davis said, remembering what Dean Smith often said. “Mistakes are good when you can recognize it, admit it, learn from it, and grow from it, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Carolina outscored Syracuse 40–14 in the final minutes of the first half and early in the second half, something Davis said showed growth but also underscored a season-long issue.
“We have stretches of brilliance, and then we’ll go stretches where we’re making multiple mistakes consecutively,” he said.
Once again, Caleb Wilson (22 points, 9 rebounds) and Henri Veesaar (17 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists in his ACC-leading 12th double-double) led the way, but UNC also got significant games from Jonathan Powell (12 points, season-high-tying 3 3-pointers) and Luka Bogavac (10 points).
“It was more mental than anything,” Powell said of the sloppy last 10 minutes. “We need to have a mindset that no matter how much we are up, we have to stay consistent and focus on the little things that we did to get that lead in the first place.”
Wilson said the Tar Heels simply stopped doing what worked and lost focus.
“I think that we got too comfortable, and we went away from the things that put us in a position to be over,” he said. “Probably just poor execution, offensively and defensively, just not being detailed and sticking to what we did to start the game to give us the lead.”
Wilson scored UNC’s first six points as the Heels jumped out to an 11–4 lead on a Bogavac drive at the 13:42 mark of the first half. After Syracuse pulled within two, UNC answered with a 13–2 run fueled by Veesaar and Powell 3-pointers, holding the Orange without a field goal for more than four minutes.
“Carolina set the tone at the beginning of the game with their physicality and their inside play,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said. “They started switching on everything.They were very disruptive and did a good job moving the ball from side to side.”
The Orange trimmed the lead to five at 34–29 late in the half, but UNC responded with 12 straight points and went the final eight minutes of the half without a turnover. Carolina led 46–32 at the break after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman.
UNC then built the big lead with a 22–4 run — including eight straight points from Bogavac — to take a 72–40 lead with 9:56 remaining.
Veesaar said the breakdown was obvious to the players even before watching film.
“We definitely know what we did wrong,” he said. “Just stay calm. Be strong with the ball. Don’t turn it over. Don’t give up the momentum if you have it.”
Syracuse stormed back from behind by making seven straight shots, including a pair of Nate Kingz 3-pointers, cutting the lead to 83–77 with 42 seconds left on a J.J. Starling jumper before UNC closed out the win with four free throws in the final 39 seconds.
Veesaar said there may be value in the scare.
“It’s a silver lining,” he said. “It kind of gives us something that we felt like we needed to do more for the next three days of practice. We’re going to have urgency to fix that.”
Davis was pleased with what he saw from Bogavac, who has found a groove on both ends in recent games, saying that he was “really good defensively” and made a strong effort under the offensive boards even though he only got one rebound. It was his season-high third consecutive double-figure scoring game
“He was in a real nice rhythm and pace on the offensive end, being able to shoot the ball,” Davis said. “His ability to pass is real, and so he’s in a nice rhythm right now, and I was really happy with his play.”
Freeman led Syracuse with 23 points and eight rebounds, with Georgia Tech transfer Naithan George adding 15 points.
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Notes
— Carolina gets four days off before welcoming No. 4 Duke (20–1, 9–0) to the Smith Center at 6:30 Saturday. The Blue Devils take a nine-game win streak into their 7 p.m. Tuesday home game against Boston College.
— Wilson extended his program record of 22 consecutive double-figure scoring games by a freshman. It was his 16th 20-point game. UNC is 13–3 in those games.
— Carolina is 13–0 at home this season, 8–0 against Syracuse at the Smith Center, and leads the all-time series 19–7.
— It was UNC’s 1,100th regular-season game, moving UNC to 777–323 with the most wins of any team in the conference.
— The Tar Heels’ bench outscored Syracuse’s bench, 29–16. Carolina’s non-starters have averaged 30.3 points over the last four games. The Tar Heels are 13–2 this season when their bench outscores the opponent’s bench.
— UNC scored more 3-pointers (8–6), marking its 21st consecutive victory when making more 3-pointers than it allows.
No. 14 UNC 87, Syracuse 77
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 17–1 | 29–2 | 1 | 2 |
| No. 10 Virginia | 15–3 | 27–4 | 13 | 11 |
| Miami | 13–5 | 24–7 | 32 | 28 |
| No. 19 North Carolina | 12–6 | 24–7 | 23 | 19 |
| Clemson | 12–6 | 22–9 | 36 | 33 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 11–7 | 22–9 | 14 | 25 |
| N.C. State | 10–8 | 19–12 | 35 | 45 |
| Florida State | 10–8 | 17–14 | 69 | 74 |
| California | 9–9 | 21–10 | 65 | 49 |
| Stanford | 9–9 | 20–11 | 59 | 51 |
| SMU | 8–10 | 19–12 | 39 | 50 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–10 | 19–12 | 53 | 52 |
| Wake Forest | 7–11 | 16–15 | 64 | 81 |
| Syracuse | 6–12 | 15–16 | 83 | 92 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–13 | 12–19 | 109 | 146 |
| Notre Dame | 4–14 | 13–18 | 93 | 121 |
| Boston College | 4–14 | 11–20 | 159 | 217 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–16 | 11–20 | 167 | 210 |
* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 19 North Carolina 61
Boston College 77, Notre Dame 69
Clemson 79, Georgia Tech 76
No. 24 Louisville 92, Miami 89
Florida State 92, SMU 78
Stanford 85, N.C. State 84
Wake Forest 80, California 73
Pittsburgh 71, Syracuse 69, OT
END OF REGULAR SEASON
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday through Saturday
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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