CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Syracuse (19-11, 9-8 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 8 North Carolina (24-6, 13-4), 75-70 on the road Monday evening. Michael Gbinije led the Orange with 17 points, but SU couldn’t apply tight enough pressure to a fast-paced Tar Heels offense.

Here are three immediate reacts to the game.

Fully Charged 

Coming off a season-low 14 minutes played against North Carolina State on Saturday, Tyler Roberson reemerged as a rebounding force for the Orange, pacing the team with 11. He corralled a missed Tyler Lydon shot and was fouled as he dropped in the put-back, cutting North Carolina’s early lead down to three.

Roberson already had seven rebounds through less than 12 minutes, his most since he put up 15 boards against Virginia Tech on Feb. 2. He finished with 9 points, and tried his best to assist SU’s primary scorers and maintain possession.

He fed Malachi Richardson for a corner 3 midway through the second half, and immediately took off across the baseline to reach the basket. His hands met Richardson’s miss almost simultaneously, and he dished to Gbinije to reset the possession, one that ultimately ended with no points.

Even in the loss, it was Roberson’s best game since head coach Jim Boeheim publicly grew sour about his performance. But he couldn’t rescue Syracuse in a game when it couldn’t put the brakes on a dynamic North Carolina offense during the second half.

Flipping the script

North Carolina entered Monday’s game with only 494 3-point attempts, ranked 296th in the country. The Orange’s offense, significantly more predicated on the 3-ball, had it’s 711 attempts rank 43rd in the nation.

Early on against Syracuse the Tar Heels deviated from its drive-heavy offensive style on, finishing 6-for-25 from behind the arc, and equaled it’s 17 attempts per game at halftime. Conversely, SU also finished poorly from 3, going just 5-for-20 and struggling out of the gates to hit the deep ball.

Guard Joel Berry II hit the Tar Heels’ first 3 while Dajuan Coleman desperately flailed his arm, and finished the contest 2-for-6 on 3s, after only eight combined attempts in his last three games.

Michael Gbinije, Trevor Cooney and Tyler Lydon combined to miss SU’s first four 3s, all on relatively open looks. Lydon’s shot didn’t catch a whiff of the net, and Tar Heels’ students serenaded him with a slow “air-ball” chant as he sulked back across the floor. The Orange finished the half 3-of-10 from 3, with Cooney’s two consecutive makes the highlight of the opening 20 minutes.

Syracuse started the second half cold, with a Richardson missed 3 rolling into the hands of Gbinije, who stepped back and missed his deep attempt. The Orange couldn’t make good on its deep ball and failed to catch UNC.

Picking up the pace

Despite leaning on the 3-ball early, North Carolina returned to driving the paint and quickening the pace of its offense. The Orange was stung significantly in its loss to North Carolina early in the season on offensive plays penetrating through the high post.

In the waning minutes of a tight game, Isaiah Hicks cut through the block, weaved around the SU defense and laid in a shot. Cooney began to leak out further from the paint and put deeper pressure on Marcus Paige, who tried four 3-point attempts in the first half.

He grew cold from deep with Cooney’s tighter pressure, but SU’s defense suffered down low and UNC was able to extend its lead with quick feeds under the basket.

 

Published on February 29, 2016 at 9:12 pm

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @connorgrossman