Unfortunately, few people will remember how Carolina’s season ended.

When historians write about the 2020 ACC tournament, they will record March 11 as the day and night that all sports in America took a seat to COVID-19 or the coronavirus. The Tar Heels’ 28-point loss to Syracuse marked the last game of the college basketball season that, in all likelihood, was played before an arena of fans.

With most other conferences making the same decision, and the NBA suspending all play, UNC hoops will quietly slip into the background of the off-season as the nation tries to ward off this deadly pandemic.

The program’s 19th loss of the season, marking only the school’s fourth losing record in the modern (or ACC) era, was perhaps the worst defeat after what looked like the team might rally and make at least a mini-run. Syracuse, which had lost nine consecutive games to Carolina, continued its 2020 pattern of avenging defeats after the Orange were whipped soundly by the Tar Heels in the Carrier Dome just two-plus weeks ago.

Falling behind 7-0 out of the gate, the Heels reverted to their poorest shooting status of any Roy Williams team by misfiring at a season-low 25 percent in the first half while their foul-plagued defense completely collapsed in giving up a 15-0 run that made the halftime deficit 43-22.

Williams said he had talked to his players that afternoon about the conditions caused by the virus, hoping they could concentrate on duplicating the effort they had at Syracuse, shredding the Orange zone from the inside and the perimeter. Typical of the outcome, they missed all seven 3-pointers in the first half and were beaten soundly by a better-prepared opponent. The Orange adjusted their zone and were completely dominant.

The worldwide dilemma will obscure the end of college careers for Brandon Robinson, Christian Keeling, Justin Pierce and, probably, Cole Anthony, who is expected to enter the NBA draft. The stupefying loss came in light of how well Carolina had been playing over the last month, as Syracuse won every game category on and beyond the stat sheet.

Hopefully, before they roll out the balls for the 2020-21 season, the current crisis will be over and basketball will return to its proper place.

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