Don’t look now, but it appears the UNC men’s basketball team refuses to be left for dead just yet as the regular season enters its final week—with the Tar Heels rolling to a 92-79 victory on Saturday at the Carrier Dome over the Syracuse Orange.

The win is UNC’s second in a row after going through a seven-game losing streak following freshman point guard Cole Anthony’s return to the lineup from an 11-game absence with a torn meniscus.

While head coach Roy Williams has made beating NC State a yearly tradition no matter how good his team is, the same is starting to ring true for the Tar Heels against Syracuse—as this also marked UNC’s ninth straight victory over the Orange (16-13, 9-9 ACC).

Cole Anthony (right) had 25 points and seven assists, while also making a season-high seven three-pointers in UNC’s win over Syracuse on Saturday. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Anthony had 25 points and seven assists for the Tar Heels (12-17, 5-13 ACC), while junior forward Garrison Brooks stayed hot with a team-high 26 points and 14 rebounds.

Graduate transfer Christian Keeling added a season-high 18 points to supplement Brooks and Anthony, on a day where the Tar Heels seemingly could not miss—shooting 51 percent from the floor and making a season-high 11 shots from three-point range, seven of which came from Anthony.

As has become tradition, UNC picked apart Syracuse’s famed 2-3 zone defense with pinpoint passing. The Tar Heels recorded an assist on 25 of their 33 made baskets in a game that easily ranks as one of the team’s most impressive showings of the entire season.

“Thirty-three baskets and 25 assists, that’s the way we love to play,” Williams told reporters afterwards. “They play the zone, and you’ve got to keep moving it around. Keep moving it around and not be selfish and take shots that you shouldn’t take. And don’t be concerned about the shot clock.

“Because if you just move it and move it, we can get better spacing,” the coach added. “Then you’ve got a chance to get a better shot.”

Midway through the first half with the score tied at 17 apiece, UNC reeled off a 16-0 run with Anthony and Keeling combining for 12 of those points to help the Tar Heels take control of the game for good.

Behind a stellar showing from Buddy Boeheim—the son of head coach Jim Boeheim—Syracuse clawed back and only trailed by five at halftime.

When the second half started, however, the Tar Heels went right back to business and immediately built their lead back to double digits—where it would remain the rest of the afternoon.

It was the type of performance this group desperately needed having played in tight games for what seems like the entire season, often falling just short in the final seconds.

Only two games remain in the regular season before the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, but it appears the Tar Heels are playing their best basketball of the year.

While it remains a long shot that UNC will actually win the conference tournament and punch a surprise ticket to the NCAA Tournament, this group is showing that it will be a tough out no matter who the opponent is on the other side of the floor.

“We’ve had some good stretches in practice that we’ve shot it great,” Williams said. “We just haven’t shot it great in the game all year. But, I mean, we’ve had some stretches in practice where I’ve said, ‘Why don’t we that in the games, guys?’ That was what we needed today.”

Up Next:

The Tar Heels return home to the Dean Smith Center for their next game on Tuesday, when they host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a game scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Game Notes:

  • Freshman forward Armando Bacot hurt his ankle in the first half and did not return to the game for the second half. He finished with three points and four rebounds in limited action.
  • This was Garrison Brooks’ first double-double since Feb. 1 in a loss to Boston College.
  • Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and Jimmy Fallon were all in attendance, making the Tar Heels 1-0 in games they’ve been at this season.

 

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

 

Cover photo via Associated Press

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