Lucas: Syracuse Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. The inconsistent performances from this year's team continued at Syracuse, as the Tar Heels followed up a terrific home win against FSU with a dud at Syracuse, falling 72-70.

2. Poor shooting was a contributing factor, but turnovers were the story. Against a Syracuse defense that the Tar Heels have carved up in recent years, Carolina committed 20 turnovers. That takes them to a combined 60 turnovers in the last three games, in which the Heels are 1-2. Monday's turnovers allowed Syracuse to hold a 28-9 edge in points off turnovers.

3. About the shooting: in a perfect world, Kerwin Walton would be a complementary piece on a team with multiple upperclassman three-point shooters. Instead, though, Walton is the sole consistent perimeter threat on this year's team, and when he has a 1-for-10, 0-for-7 performance (it was the first time he didn't make a three-pointer since the game at NC State before Christmas), as he did on Monday, the entire offense suffers. Carolina shot just 20 percent from the three-point line. Syracuse was just better enough to win, hitting a shade under 30 percent from three, but it was Buddy Boeheim who did the most damage, making six of his 13 three-point shots.

4. Carolina played poorly, so this isn't an excuse. But it's a fact that the Saturday-Monday turnarounds are difficult--even with a good team--and are even more difficult when the back half of the two-game set is on the road. Coming into the night, the Tar Heels were 5-5 in their last ten back halves of Saturday-Monday turnarounds. That's a mark that stretches back to the national title team in 2017. But that figure drops to 2-4 in Monday games in that scenario that are on the road. In that context, Monday's outcome wasn't entirely unexpected (but still painful to watch).

5. Carolina missed a chance to change the tone of the game when they couldn't take advantage of a very slow Syracuse start. The Orange were sluggish early and the Tar Heels were dominating the boards, but couldn't make enough shots to take a significant lead. That gave the home team time to warm up--mostly generated by Buddy Boeheim's five first half three-pointers--and grab a halftime lead.

6. Turnovers were one of the primary culprits in not being able to take control of the game during that stretch. Carolina committed ten turnovers in the first half, which staked the Cuse to a 12-4 lead in points off turnovers in a game they led by six at halftime.

7. The furious rally at the end, in which Carolina took it from an eight-point deficit to a two-point deficit in about 50 seconds of clock time, was nice--and Syracuse helped with some depth issues--but it also underscored how poorly the Tar Heels had played to that point. That type of energy for a full 40 minutes would have won the game. Carolina didn't have it until the end, and then they failed to execute at the end by missing a free throw that could have at least set up an intentional miss in a two-point game--in a contest when the Heels dominated the backboards.

8. Armando Bacot played a stellar game, scoring 18 points to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. Eight of his rebounds were offensive. Bacot's energy, unfortunately, was not contagious. Minus his 7-for-10 shooting, the rest of the team was 16-for-53 (30.2 percent).

9. A measure of the struggles around the basket, as Carolina made just 22 of 48 two-point shots: Syracuse had nine blocks. That's tied for the most blocks against the Tar Heels this year (the 'Cuse has done it twice). Carolina dominated the rebounding, winning that category 53-33 and 26-13 on the offensive glass, but they couldn't turn enough of those opportunities into points.

10. Monday night marked the final road game of the season in what has become a strange ACC schedule. Carolina will finish the year Saturday having played nine road games and seven home games. Of the teams ahead of the Tar Heels in the standings, Louisville is slated to play eight times on the road, while Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech are likely to only play seven games away from home. Syracuse is now 12-1 at the former Carrier Dome this season but 3-7 away from home. The schedule split matters. Carolina, uncharacteristically, is now 3-7 in road games this season.

11. There will be all sorts of implications from this one, of course. Carolina essentially cost itself any chance of a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels will be back in the NCAA Tournament bubble discussion. And Saturday's Senior Day game against Duke now becomes a virtual must-win.

12. The Tar Heels are now 4-4 in the last eight games, which feels about right given the uneven quality of the performances. They've gone win-loss-win-loss in the last four games, as it's been a struggle to capture any momentum.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Kerwin Walton

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