SYRACUSE, NY – North Carolina’s 20 turnovers were unbeatable at the point when Syracuse won 72-70. Roy Williams said after the UNC loss to Marquette that his team could not sustain a bit of prosperity, and that was apparently Monday after the disturbing victory over Florida State.
The tar heels led by nine on two separate occasions in the first half. In the last 6:46 of that half, they had three field goals to go along with four turnovers, allowing the Orange to put together a six-point lead at halftime. UNC eventually regained the lead, 36-35, with 17:41 left, but the Orange capitalized on numerous turnovers to achieve the biggest lead of the match, 63-49. Despite this, the Tar Heels trailed by 11.4 seconds with three, but Caleb Love missed two free throws to extinguish his team’s chance of a return.
Syracuse’s zone defense once again led to an overwhelming rebound margin in favor of UNC, 53-33, with Armando Bacot taking the lead with 15. UNC was too ineffective at the edge leading to 25 second chances on 26 attacking led rebounds.
Buddy Boeheim, who had 18 points in the first half at Chapel Hill, finished with 26 points on 9-for-20 shooting, including 6-for-13 from three-pointers. Quincy Guerrier, who was dealing with a sore knee entering the game, added 18 points and six rebounds.
Check out and read all that UN Williams head coach Roy Williams told the media after the loss: