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Following an 86-66 defeat at Duke on Jan. 2, Syracuse bounced back on Wednesday to defeat Boston College. The Orange jumped out to an 8-0 lead, and saw their advantage grow to as many as 19, before entering halftime with a 32-22 cushion.

Yet, BC rallied from its double-digit deficit notching 37 second-half points. Although the Eagles managed to obtain their first lead of the contest with around seven minutes remaining, SU hung on to win 69-59. Forward Chris Bell led Syracuse with a game-high 20 points, while Maliq Brown poured in 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks in his first start of the season.

The Orange’s next test is an away game against No. 7 North Carolina. The Tar Heels enter the contest off a 67-54 victory over NC State and remain perfect in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Impressive nonconference results for UNC include wins versus No. 5 Tennessee, Arkansas and a second-place finish at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament earlier this season.

Here’s how our beat writers believe Syracuse (11-4, 2-2 ACC) will fare at North Carolina (12-3, 4-0 ACC):

Cole Bambini (14-1)
Tar Heel takeover
North Carolina 83, Syracuse 64

Boasting the highest attendance in the conference, the Dean E. Smith Center at UNC is a tough environment for the Orange to come away with an upset over No. 7 UNC. In games against Virginia and Duke on the road, those performances have shown that Syracuse isn’t quite ready to compete with the upper echelon of the ACC.

I expect Saturday to be no different. The key to this game lies in the defense. As a premier scoring team in the conference, UNC has multiple options in RJ Davis and Harrison Ingram on the perimeter while dishing the ball down low to Armando Bacot, who will look to make life difficult on Brown.

This is a much different UNC squad compared to last year when Syracuse only lost by four at home. Saturday’s game might follow the trend where Syracuse keeps it close in the first half, only to see it slip away in the second. This isn’t a game Syracuse is supposed to win, and facing a Tar Heels team that averages 89 points at home is too much of a task for the Orange at this point.

Henry O’Brien (14-1)
Tobacco Road trouble
North Carolina 85, Syracuse 68

Syracuse may not be going into as hostile an environment as Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the Dean Smith Center is quite the home court advantage for the No. 7 Tar Heels. Hubert Davis’ squad has not lost at home yet and is currently riding a five-game win streak where it has won by double digits in all five contests.

The Orange defense should get massive credit for not allowing Boston College’s Quinten Post to score a single point on Wednesday. But Bacot is different. Without a center presence like Naheem McLeod to chew up minutes, Bacot will bully his way down low to great efficiency. That’s not to say Brown won’t do well against Bacot. The problem will be the fouls Bacot draws against him.

Along with Bacot, Davis, the leading scorer in the conference, Ingram and Cormac Ryan will have no trouble distributing the ball and scoring beyond the arc. North Carolina is fifth in the ACC in 3-point percentage and should have no trouble firing away. The Orange may put up a fight like they did against the Blue Devils. But at one point or another, the UNC lead will spiral out of control.

Tyler Schiff (13-2)
Rammed in the side
North Carolina 80, Syracuse 75

Arguably SU’s toughest conference test on paper, North Carolina boasts one of the most star-studded and experienced lineups in college basketball. It chalks 82.5 points per game (2nd in ACC) and wins its games by an average of 12.8 (2nd in ACC).

Headlined by veterans Bacot and Davis, the Tar Heels have leveled up this season. Despite losing Caleb Love to Arizona, they’ve added a sharpshooter in Ryan and another versatile inside presence in Ingram. Consensus five-star freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau completes a near-flawless offense for third-year head coach Davis.

As Henry mentioned, SU’s defense — notably Brown — was exceptional for long stretches in its win over Boston College. But, while I do predict Bacot getting the better of SU’s bigs, I also see Brown holding UNC’s big man under his season average of 14.5 points.

Yet, I don’t see an answer for Davis (20.3 points) or Ingram (12.8 points), who will be too much muscle for either Bell or Justin Taylor to handle defensively. And if Judah Mintz doesn’t have a monster game amid a hostile road environment, Syracuse’s inconsistent secondary scoring options don’t have the talent to suffice against this North Carolina side.

My prediction of a 5-point SU loss is already optimistic. This one could get ugly, quickly.

Published on January 12, 2024 at 6:50 pm