The No. 13 North Carolina men’s basketball team battled by Syracuse, 93-83, Monday night in the Smith Center to record its sixth straight ACC victory and improve to 17-4 overall.

With the loss, the Orange dropped to 14-7 on the season and 5-3 in league action.

***Listen to the story***

At the half, UNC head coach Roy Williams had plenty of ammo for his locker room speech. He had 13 bullets in his gun.

Those ‘bullets’ represented the 13 turnovers committed by the Tar Heels in the opening 20 minutes of action.

Roy Williams looking on from the sidelines (Todd Melet)

Roy Williams looking on from the sidelines (Todd Melet)

“First half I thought they out-competed us, and our turnovers led to 16 points, and you can’t have 13 turnovers in a half and have a team outscore you 16 to two,” Coach Williams says.

The Tar Heels cleaned up their act in the second half and certainly fared better against Syracuse’s famed zone defense this season, shooting at a 55-percent clip as a team to erase the misery that was a 57-45 loss at the Carrier Dome a year ago.

“Everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket. That’s the bottom line,” Coach Williams says.

But the victory didn’t come easy. UNC was forced to overcome a season-high 20 turnovers and withstand an offensive onslaught from Syracuse junior guard Trevor Cooney and senior forward Rakeem Christmas.

***Listen to Roy Williams’ postgame remarks***

 

Marcus Paige jumper (Todd Melet)

Marcus Paige jumper (Todd Melet)

Cooney finished with 28 points to lead all scorers while Christmas tallied 22 points and was also a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.

But ultimately, Syracuse couldn’t keep up with the torrid offensive pace set by Carolina in the second half. Junior point guard Marcus Paige led the Tar Heel scoring charge with 22 points, including four makes from behind the arc.

But one of his teammates, upstaged him on this night. Switch-shooting sophomore Nate Britt poured in four three-pointers of his own on his way to a career-high 17 points, and according to Syracuse Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim, Britt proved to be the “difference-maker”.

“I think Britt probably was the difference-maker in the game. He made four threes, and I thought that was the big difference in the game. I thought we played well. I think North Carolina just had a great second half, and that was it,” Coach Boeheim says.

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After falling behind 7-2 early, a Paige three-pointer tied the game up at 7 points apiece with 15:45 to go in the first half.

But six quick turnovers hindered UNC’s progression, allowing the Orange a chance to capitalize on the home team’s mistakes. But Syracuse’s inefficiency on the offensive end allowed Carolina to hang close, well save for one player.

Isaiah Hicks battles Rakeem Christmas and company for the ball (Todd Melet)

Isaiah Hicks battles Rakeem Christmas and company for the ball (Todd Melet)

Cooney was electric, knocking down shot after shot from behind the arc, some even from NBA range. With 6:35 to play, the Orange held a 24-19 advantage.

Outside of Cooney though, the Orange were struggling to find much point production. The Tar Heels found their shooting touch and a rare successful J.P. Tokoto three-pointer was a testament to that.

Despite a whopping 13 first-half turnovers from UNC, at the intermission, Carolina trailed by a mere five points at 40-35.

Out of the locker room, it was Brice Johnson who was all fired up, providing a spark to the UNC offense and in turn, igniting the Tar Heel faithful.

A strong finish in the paint from Meeks drew a foul and the chance at a three-point play with 15:58 remaining in the contest. He converted. As a result, the Tar Heels drew within a single point at 47-46.

Per usual, Paige rose to the occasion in the second half. He popped a three with 11:30 remaining to tie the game up at 56-all.

But Christmas was imposing himself on the other end for the Orange, grabbing rebounds and working his way to the foul line.

With both offenses fully engaged, the game transformed into a back-and-forth affair. Britt joined the scoring frenzy with back-to-back three-point makes. With 7:12 to play, UNC sported a 68-62 lead.

Kennedy Meeks goes up to the basket (Todd Melet)

Kennedy Meeks goes up to the basket (Todd Melet)

With Christmas leading the Orange attack and Britt spurring on the Tar Heels, both defenses struggled to gain much traction down the stretch.

But it was Carolina who was able to gut out its free throws in the crucible of the tense final minutes to gutt out yet another narrow victory and send the Smith Center fans home happy.

After the game, Britt was all smiles.

“I felt like I kept getting open looks and my teammates kept looking for me, and when you have those guys telling you to shoot it, I felt like I had no choice, and so I was able to knock a few down,” Britt says.

Next up for the Tar Heels is a tough road trip out to No. 10 Louisville for a 4 p.m. tipoff Saturday afternoon in the KFC Yum Center.

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