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Syracuse, N.Y. -- After a tough road trip that included dates against skilled big men at Duke and Georgia Tech, Syracuse came home to the Carrier Dome to face ... a stable of skilled big men from North Carolina.
At least this time, the game happened at home.
Syracuse trailed early in this game (what else is new?), was substantially outrebounded and yet still owned a 34-28 halftime advantage. The Orange built a second-half lead, then withstood a big UNC push in the closing minutes. Final score: SU 72, UNC 70.
Here’s what happened:
Syracuse made 3-point shots. That was the tangential story to the first half. (We’ll address the other first-half issue soon.) North Carolina has struggled -- really struggled -- to make 3-point shots this season. The Heels were ranked No. 292 nationally in that category coming into the game.
And in the first half against the Orange? UNC shot 0-for-10 from the 3-point line. The Heels finished 4-of-20 there, the last couple coming in the furious closing minutes.
Syracuse started the game 2-for-10, but then the Orange, in general, and Buddy Boeheim, in particular, heated up. Boeheim scored 17 points by halftime. He was 5-for-9 from the 3-point line. In the end, Boeheim scored a game-high 26. He was 6-of-13 from the 3-point line.
Syracuse needed -- really, really needed -- to make 3s against Carolina because of how much the Heels dominate inside. And the Orange delivered a 7-for-17 first half from that distance. SU outscored the Heels 24-6 from the 3-point line, even after going 1-for-10 in the second half. Which brings me to my second point:
North Carolina is a wonder on the backboards. It is riveting to watch them work the offensive glass. The Tar Heels are huge and they just come after teams in waves. UNC is the nation’s best offensive rebounding team, and that is not a good matchup for a team like Syracuse, which has struggled for years to end defensive possessions with a rebound.
UNC at one point Monday led the rebounding battle, 18-3. Armando Bacot at one point had eight rebounds, compared to SU’s overall total of 3. North Carolina can’t shoot, but they can and do ferociously track down misses. Rebounding margin: UNC 53-33.
We keep talking about Kadary Richmond. And for good reason. Nobody on this Syracuse team can do what he does with the ball in his hands.
He made his mistakes against UNC. He turned it over a few times. He committed a charge. But he also greatly impacted the game with his ability to reach the rim with his dribble. He tipped passes. He swarmed to shooters. He rebounded. And most importantly, he got teammates the ball in a position to score. He finished Monday with nine assists.
And to continue the Richmond conversation, he had four steals in the game. The Orange in general seemed to fluster UNC at various parts of the contest. The Heels were careless with the ball and SU outscored them by a whopping 26-6 points off turnovers. UNC committed 19 turnovers.
But Richmond limped off the court with 3:51 left in the game and sat on a chair with an icepack on his right knee. So, that is certainly a situation to monitor.
SU’s radio guy, Matt Park, reported before the game that Quincy Guerrier sustained a knee bruise in the loss to Georgia Tech. He wore a fairly significant wrap on his left knee.
He played 15 first-half minutes, and though he collected only one missed shot (on the offensive end), he drained two 3-point shots.
He sat out the start of the second half, but then re-emerged with a vengeance. His put-back of a Boeheim missed 3 gave him 12 points for the game and a reason to shout (we heard it on TV!). He finished a terrific pass from Kadary Richmond in transition. He scored with 18 points, grabbed six rebounds.
Jesse Edwards. The sophomore big man was crucial for Syracuse on Monday against all that UNC size and length. He played 11 first-half minutes before exiting with three fouls. He’s so long in there, he at least has a chance to contest those gigantic UNC guys. And in those 11 minutes, he grabbed five rebounds.
He was even better in the second half, walling up inside and rebounding the ball -- even going out of his area to track down misses. His play enabled Marek Dolezaj to move to the forward spot and helped the Orange with its backline defensive issues. And he produced some points, too.
He fouled out with 6:11 left, finishing with eight rebounds, six points and four steals.
This and that: Syracuse nearly blew the game in the closing minutes. Two crucial turnovers and a couple made UNC 3s made it way too close. A big Joe Girard defensive rebound off a Caleb Love missed free throw with 11.4 seconds left sealed it. ... Buddy Boeheim’s late-half 3-pointer pushed him over 1,000 points for his Syracuse career. ... UNC turned it over 10 times in the first half against SU and the Orange outscored the Heels 12-4 in points off turnovers. ... Marek Dolezaj again found foul trouble. He collected his fourth with 10:14 left in the game and had to take an SU seat. He finished with eight points, five rebounds, five assists. ... Alan Griffin struggled to make anything Monday. Yes, he took a few bad shots. But he also missed some easier ones, too. He scored his first bucket with just under 4 minutes left on a backdoor pass from Dolezaj. He was 1-for-10 Monday. ... Armando Bacot had 18 points and 15 rebounds.
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