UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Syracuse 103-67 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Blitzes the Syracuse Orange to Win Going Away
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
After a three-game road trip to start ACC play, the North Carolina basketball team returned home to face off against Syracuse to try to extend their winning streak to six games. The Tar Heels came out of the gates with a lot of energy and intensity on both sides of the floor to start this game and were very aggressive attacking the basket and getting into the paint early on. 16 of Carolina’s first 19 points came in the paint and 28 of their 52 points came in the first half as they were clearly taking advantage of their size and length inside. North Carolina took control of this game early on getting out to an early 28-12 lead in the first ten minutes of the game and led by as much as 27 in the first half.
The Heels shot 51 percent from the field and were clicking on all cylinders offensively with eight different Tar Heels players scoring in the first half alone. Defensively, UNC was tremendous in the first half holding Syracuse to just 30 points and 29 percent from the field and forcing 10 turnovers. There were even a couple of different stretches where the North Carolina defense was so stifling that they held Syracuse scoreless for extended minutes. This was the third straight half the Tar Heels had held their opponent to under 30 percent from the field, leading to the Heels commanding a 22-point lead going into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina continued their dominance on both sides of the floor against Syracuse. The Tar Heels were supremely dominant on the inside and in the paint throughout the game, outscoring Syracuse 58-32 in the paint. The Heels also outrebounded Cuse 53-30, including 19 offensive rebounds which resulted in 22 second-chance points. UNC made it difficult for Syracuse in every way possible all game long. Syracuse was never comfortable and was completely outplayed by Carolina. North Carolina played a stifling, swarming defense that helped keep Syracuse in check and forced them into shooting 37 percent from the field along with 13 steals for the game. Those 13 steals allowed the Heels to get out in transition, resulting in 20 fast break points and 23 points off turnovers. UNC controlled this game from start to finish and got great contributions from everyone including 11 different players scoring a basket and 39 points off the bench. Five players including RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram, Jaelyn Withers, and Jalen Washington scored in double figures and it led the way for the Tar Heels as they cruised to their 103-67 win over Syracuse.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| Syracuse 11-5 | 30 | 37 | 67 |
| 7 North Carolina 13-3 | 52 | 51 | 103 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 22 | 2 | 2 | 7/12 | 4/6 | 4/4 | 2 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Bacot | 16 | 11 | 1 | 6/8 | 0/0 | 4/4 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| H. Ingram | 11 | 10 | 3 | 5/13 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 1 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Ryan | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2/5 | 0/3 | 5/6 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Cadeau | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3/7 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 11 | 6 | 2 | 4/5 | 0/0 | 3/5 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Withers | 10 | 6 | 1 | 4/5 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3/8 | 1/2 | 2/3 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| J. Okonkwo | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| R. Landry | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Farris | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0/4 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| P. Wojcik | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Lebo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 103 | 51 | 16 | 37/77 | 7/26 | 22/27 | 15 | – | 13 | 4 | 14 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Mintz | 21 | 2 | 2 | 7/17 | 0/2 | 7/9 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| C. Bell | 13 | 1 | 0 | 3/5 | 3/3 | 4/4 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Starling | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4/8 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Brown | 6 | 8 | 2 | 3/6 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 3 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Taylor | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| Q. Copeland | 16 | 2 | 1 | 5/9 | 1/2 | 5/6 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| P. Carey | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| B. Williams | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/5 | 0/3 | 1/2 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| M. Hima | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Ruffin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Cuffe Jr. | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0/5 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Clayton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Westry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| W. Patterson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Gatty | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| N. McLeod | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Owens | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 67 | 25 | 8 | 23/63 | 4/19 | 17/21 | 19 | – | 7 | 4 | 17 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 22 points, 5 steals, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Armando Bacot had 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block
Harrison Ingram had 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Jalen Washington had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Jaelyn Withers had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Needs Work
UNC needs to make sure they continue to move the ball offensively and not have stretches when they’re stagnant and overdribbling, which leads to bad shots. They’re at their best when they’re sharing the ball and are in constant motion offensively.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improved to 13-3 on the season, winning their sixth straight game and moving to 5-0 in ACC play as they stand alone in first place in the ACC standings. The Heels are playing great basketball right now and haven’t even reached their full potential yet. Elliott Cadeau is still adjusting to the style of the play at the college level and the consistency from a scoring standpoint from the incoming transfers Cormac Ryan, Paxson Wojcik, and Jaelyn Withers hasn’t been there yet. If they can continue improving on those things, it will be tough for any team in the country to beat them.
However, even with some of those things still needing to be addressed, the Tar Heels are still playing like a top 5 team in the country and can still beat anyone on any given night. Their intensity, attention to detail, and focus on defense from game to game have changed the overall trajectory of this team. North Carolina is right now a top 15 team in the country in defensive metrics and rising to go along with their high-powered offense which is also one of the best in the country. The production off the bench continues to improve with each game and the team buying into Coach Hubert Davis’s system has paid huge dividends. Next up is Louisville on Wednesday, January 17 at 9:00 P.M. on ACC Network.
Can’t say enough about how well the Heels have come together and played beautiful basketball the last 6 games!! Every rotational player is contributing, and the minutes played allow for the starters not to get burned out. I would like to see Cadeau with more assists. But overall, great basketball today!!