Head coach Roy Williams commented after Saturday’s upset win over Florida State that his UNC team hasn’t yet figured out how to handle prosperity. The Tar Heels responded Monday night at the Carrier Dome with a 72-70 loss to Syracuse.
Inconsistency has been the theme of the season for UNC (15-9, 9-6 ACC) and that was no different against Syracuse (14-8, 8-7 ACC).
Rather than fall into an early deficit, however, the Tar Heels started strong and led for most of the first half on Monday. A cold stretch towards the end of the half paired with lights-out shooting from Syracuse guard Buddy Boeheim allowed the Orange to close the half on a 14-2 run—giving them a six-point halftime advantage.
Boeheim—the son of Syracuse Hall-of-Fame head coach Jim Boeheim—was the difference maker overall, making six three-pointers on the way to a game-high 26 points.
UNC did manage to take the lead back for a brief moment early in the second half, but the team’s major flaws provided the difference in a game that was close through the final seconds. The Tar Heels shot just 4-for-20 from three-point range and turned the ball over 20 times—the third consecutive outing with at least 19 giveaways.
Sophomore forward Armando Bacot led the Tar Heels with 18 points and 15 rebounds, but that wouldn’t be enough for UNC to get the win for Williams and keep momentum rolling.
“It’s frustrating, there’s no question,” Williams told reporters afterwards. “We talk about turnovers. We practice. We emphasize it in our practice. We give discipline points if you do turn it over in practice. All those kinds of things.
“But the bottom line is I haven’t gotten them to understand how important possession of the ball is,” he added. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting them to understand borderline plays cannot be made.”
Garrison Brooks finished the night with 11 points for the Tar Heels, while Caleb Love added 10 as the only other UNC players to join Bacot in double figures. The duo combined for seven of the Tar Heels’ final 11 points down the stretch.
During that period over the last two minutes, UNC cut a double-digit Syracuse lead down to the final margin of two points before running out of time.
One less turnover, one more defensive stop, one more made three-pointer. That’s all it would have taken for the Tar Heels to escape with an all-important ACC road win.
Instead, UNC will head into this weekend’s regular season finale against Duke hoping to regain momentum before the madness of March truly gets underway.
“I do believe we have the kind of kids that, along with our staff and the guys on our bench that have been around a long time, even they’re pushing the freshmen,” Williams said. “Just to keep playing, keep playing. And hopefully good things will happen.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels host Duke at the Smith Center on Saturday. Tip-off for that game is set for 6 p.m.
Game Notes:
- UNC went 0-for-10 from three-point range in the first half, while Syracuse went 7-for-17 over the same time span.
- The Tar Heels demolished the Orange in the rebounding department, winning that battle by a huge 53-33 margin.
- At the free throw line, UNC struggled once again–going 14-for-22.
Photo via Mark Konezny (USA Today Sports)
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Well you can’t help losing when you turn the ball over 20 times. However, timeouts could have been used to stop the 1st half run that Syracuse went on to take the eventual 6 point lead. Had Roy done just that and made a few comments like cover the 3 point line no matter what and stay on their best shooters like glue and don’t shoot the ball from 3 or anywhere else unless we have someone under the basket to help with a rebound if the shots are missed. This pattern of just letting them play on and getting deeper into trouble has to stop. Wholesale substitutions is not the answer but taking the timeouts and talking directly to the players would have given UNC a victory over several teams that we lost to this year and last year. Please call the timeouts since you are being paid to coach.