86 - 79 It’s still an uphill climb, but Syracuse’s March Madness hopes aren’t dead just yet.
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team earned its first ranked win of the season and first of Adrian Autry’s career as the Orange defeated the No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels 86-79 inside the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday night. The win kept Syracuse’s slim at-large NCAA Tournament hopes alive, but still with work to do.
Syracuse improved to 16-9 on the season and 7-7 in ACC play, earning its second quadrant one victory of the season. Judah Mintz and JJ Starling scored 25 and 23 points, respectively, to lead the way for the Orange. Maliq Brown filled the stat sheet with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and block. Chris Bell chipped in 13 points on 3-7 outside shooting.
Adrian Autry went with his usual starting five. Syracuse was without Peter Carey for the second straight game, who remains in concussion protocol.
Syracuse jumped out to an early 10-7 lead behind the shooting of Bell and Brown as the two forwards connected on their first three point attempts. A put-back by Brown and pull-up jumper by Bell gave Syracuse the early edge. Brown’s second three had Syracuse up 13-7 at the first media timeout.
Syracuse started out in man to man defense but switched to the 2-3 zone less than five minutes in. Harrison Ingram scored on his first attempt against the zone but Mintz drew Ingram’s second foul right after. Jae’lyn Withers replaced him and Quadir Copeland checked in for Bell.
From there, Syracuse began to create separation. A contested Copeland layup in transition brought Syracuse’s lead to double-digits at 21-11. North Carolina attempted to answer by establishing Armando Bacot inside, who scored right away with Brown on him. Starling answered by taking RJ Davis off the bounce for a finish and North Carolina went back inside to Bacot and drew a foul on Brown before the second media timeout. Syracuse led 23-13.
Back and forth we went with both teams trading buckets and the margin hovering between three and four possessions. In a trap attempt at mid-court, Syracuse gambled on a steal and Cormac Ryan drilled a corner three on the back side, making them pay. But Bell responded with a contested three and Copeland finished on an up-and-under to bring the lead back to 10.
Mounir Hima made his first appearance at the 8:24 mark, but it was brief. After the under eight minute media timeout Brown checked back in and Syracuse stayed in the zone. From there Copeland picked up his second foul and Jalen Washington made a corner three for North Carolina. Davis then hit a three to get UNC to within one possession at 32-29. Then Brown picked up his second foul, this time on an illegal screen. He was forced to go to the bench and Hima checked back in with over five minutes to play.
Rather than capitalize on the opportunity, North Carolina decided to play along with the foul trouble as Bacot and Davis both picked their second foul on the same possession, the second of which put Syracuse in the bonus. Davis and Bacot joined Ingram with two first half fouls at that point. Mintz made a pair of free throws to put Syracuse up 34-31, but Ingram answered with back-to-back threes against the 2-3 zone to put UNC up it at 37-34.
After, Taylor scored on a two in the lane and Starling — who seemed to relish the opportunity of going at Davis — scored on a pair of mid-range shots as Syracuse went into the half tied with North Carolina at 42.
Davis was limited to three points in the first half. Syracuse shot 65% from the floor and 50% from the three in the first half as North Carolina had a slim 12-10 edge on the glass.
Out of the break Bell and Starling hit back-to-back threes to put Syracuse up 48-42. Autry stayed in the 2-3 zone on the defensive end and disrupted UNC’s offensive attack initially. Mintz knocked down a pair of free throws and scored off a nifty ball fake and euro step to put Syracuse up 52-43.
Bacot didn’t start the half for North Carolina but he replaced Seth Trimble after the first media timeout and the Heels looked to establish him down low right away. As they did, Bell offered weak-side help and picked up his third foul with 12:43 to play. Bacot made two free throws and scored on the ensuing offensive possession as Syracuse clung to a 56-53 lead.
From there, Syracuse got a defensive stop and a no look Copeland dime found Bell for a transition layup, which brought the dome crowd on its feet. But Davis drilled a three to silence the Syracuse faithful. Then Copeland answered with a mid-range pull 64-61. But after another Bacot finish inside, Copeland put a little too much sauce on his next layup attempt, which allowed Davis to score out in transition as North Carolina reclaimed the lead 65-64. Autry called timeout with 7:08 to play.
Out of the pause in action, Starling channeled his inner Buddy Boeheim vs. Virginia and banked in a three with the shotclock winding down to give the lead back to Syracuse 67-65. Mintz took command from there, scoring six straight points for Syracuse as the Orange led 73-67 lead with over three minutes to play.
North Carolina wouldn’t go quietly into the night. Ingram answered with a floater in the lane to make the deficit four, but Starling ripped the chords on a three to give Syracuse a seven point lead with under three to play. Davis responded in kind with a triple of his own.
Down the stretch, Brown was fed the ball inside and Ryan wrapped him up with a hard foul. It was ruled just a common foul and Brown split a pair. After a North Carolina turnover, Brown was fouled and made both to boost Syracuse’s lead 79-72.
Syracuse struggled to make its free throws in crunch time. Copeland was fouled and he split a pair and then Ryan drilled a corner three to make it 80-75 with 50 seconds left. Mintz then made just one and a UNC tip-in cut the lead to four, but that’s as close as the Heels would get the rest of the way.
Brown and Copeland both made and missed a free throw late and Bacot was called for a flagrant foul that all but eliminated a chance of a North Carolina comeback. Syracuse held on for a seven point win and moved to 12-2 at home on the season, keeping its slim tournament hopes alive.
Next up
Syracuse hits the road to take on Georgia Tech this Saturday. That game tips at 5:30 p.m. ET from McCamish Pavilion and airs on the CW Network.
