Syracuse’s late rally turns North Carolina blowout into a run-of-the-mill loss

Syracuse, N.Y. ― North Carolina was blowing out Syracuse.

For the first 30 minutes of Monday night’s game at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., the North Carolina Tar Heels tore through the Syracuse Orange, making 3-pointers, ramming home dunks and simply dominating in all phases of the game.

The Tar Heels built a 72-40 lead. North Carolina coach Hubert Davis had taken future NBA lottery pick Caleb Wilson out of the game for the night.

Then came an unexpected and confounding comeback. Syracuse went on a 35-to-10 run, cutting North Carolina’s lead down to six points.

Syracuse’s rally came up short as the Tar Heels held on for an 87-77 win over the Orange.

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While Syracuse showed some grit with its late-game effort, North Carolina had too much firepower for the Orange.

UNC’s frontcourt duo of freshman Caleb Wilson (22 points and nine rebounds) and 7-foot center Henri Veesaar (17 points and 11 boards) were nearly unstoppable. Together they combined to shoot 13-for-25 from the field. Wilson drew numerous fouls and went 10-for-13 at the free throw line.

The loss dropped Syracuse’s record to 13-10 on the season and 4-6 in the ACC.

Syracuse remained winless against the Tar Heels at the Smith Center, losing all eight of its trips to Chapel Hill since joining the ACC.

North Carolina, which came into the game ranked 14th in the country, improved to 18-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference. North Carolina is undefeated at home this season with a Saturday date with arch-rival Duke looming.

Donnie Freeman returned to Syracuse’s starting lineup after coming off the bench in Saturday’s win over Notre Dame. Freeman led the Orange with 23 points and eight rebounds.

But no other Syracuse player was able to do much offensively until the furious comeback effort in the final 10 minutes. The Orange made 11 out of 12 shots during the rally.

In that time, Naithan George finished with 15 points, JJ Starling added 13 and Nate Kingz hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes.

Prior to the run, Syracuse players other than Freeman were a combined 10-for-36 from the field.

Syracuse, which had a season-high 21 assists in the win over Notre Dame on Saturday, assisted on just seven of its 29 made field goals against the Tar Heels.

A valiant effort from a Syracuse team or a case of North Carolina taking its Heel off the gas? Either way, the Orange has now lost five of its last six games.

And next up is a trip to No. 18 Virginia on Saturday.

North Carolina’s lead went up and down in the first half, before the more dramatic crests and plummets in the second half.

North Carolina opened up a 46-32 halftime lead thanks to a late 12-0 run.

Syracuse had trailed by 13 points midway through the half but pulled to within five points at 34-29 with 3 minutes left.

Freeman provided most of the offense with 18 first-half points. The Tar Heels would hold him in check for most of the second half.

But after all that work from the Orange to narrow the gap, North Carolina erupted for 12 straight points for a 46-29 lead.

Freeman saved things, in a small way, as he banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to get the Orange to within 46-32.

North Carolina clogged up Syracuse’s offense. Syracuse was reduced to a lot of one-on-one moves and contested shots. After doling out 21 assists in Saturday’s win over Notre Dame, the Orange had two assists in the first half.

Freeman went 6-for-9 from the field in the half, but the rest of the Orange made only five out of 14 field goal attempts.