A combined 48 points from Syracuse guards Judah Mintz and J.J. Starling sent Carolina to its third defeat in five games Tuesday night, as the Orange defeated the Tar Heels 86-79.
Mintz and Starling were part of a red-hot shooting effort from the Orange, who shot 63 percent in the first half (the highest percentage Carolina has given up in any first half this season) and barely dipped in the second, shooting 61.9 percent in the final 20 minutes. Maliq Brown and Chris Bell added 14 and 13 points.
That offensive production staked Syracuse to an early 30-20 lead, but Carolina charged back on the strength of three-pointers from Cormac Ryan, R.J. Davis and Harrison Ingram to take a 42-38 lead in the final minutes of the first half. The Orange tied the game at 42 before halftime, and that proved to be the beginning of another strong Syracuse run. Starling and Mintz continued to cut up the UNC defense early in the second half, restoring Syracuse’s lead to nine.
Carolina once again fought back, taking a 65-64 lead on a layup by Davis. But it seemed the night would always be the Orange’s when Starling banked in a long three-pointer over Armando Bacot’s outstretched hand as the shot clock expired, giving Syracuse the lead back for good.
UNC would only make six more shots in the final 6:45 after Starling’s make, and several self-inflicted errors kept the Tar Heels from staging any kind of comeback. After Davis made a three to cut the Orange lead to four points with 2:37 remaining, Carolina got a rare stop but fumbled the rebound out of bounds. Syracuse then missed its next shot, but again the ball bounced back to the Orange. UNC then committed turnovers on its next two possessions to put the game on ice.
Davis finished as Carolina’s leading scorer with 19 points, extending his school-record streak of consecutive games with multiple made threes to 22 in the process. Ryan added 18 and made four threes but committed five of the team’s 11 turnovers. Ingram and Bacot both registered double-doubles.
The loss drops Carolina to 19-6 on the season and 11-3 in ACC play, a half-game ahead of 10-3 Duke. Thanks to a Virginia loss on Tuesday night, the Cavaliers are still a full game behind Carolina at 10-4, but the Tar Heels still have to travel to Charlottesville later this season. Up next for UNC is a home date with Virginia Tech on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Featured image via Associated Press/Adrian Kraus
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