UNC-Syracuse Preview: Tar Heels Face Road Rematch With Orange

No. 16 North Carolina (20-6, 8-5 ACC) vs. Syracuse (15-12, 6-8 ACC)
Syracuse, N.Y. — JMA Wireless Dome
Saturday, Feb. 21 — 1 p.m.
ABC (Kevin Brown, Jon Crispin)

Quotables 

“Looked at the entire game and the things that allowed us to be successful and get a lead. And then also looked at the things that they did and we did to allow them to cut the lead to six, and so obviously better execution, taking care of the basketball, being able to execute, whether they’re in man and zone … I feel like we’ve gotten better at that from the time that we played Syracuse.” — head coach Hubert Davis at Friday’s press conference

“Four great opportunities in front of us, and that’s how we have to look at it. We’ve got to finish it up, and we’re moving forward for what’s after this. We’ve got to get ready for our next game, which is Saturday. It’s all you can do. Learn from this and move forward.” — head coach Adrian Autry after Syracuse’s biggest loss of the season to Duke on Monday.

Pregame Notes

Tar Heels Embarrassed by Wolfpack in Only Regular Season Meeting: North Carolina suffered its largest defeat of the season against N.C. State, falling 82-58 on Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center. 

The Tar Heels endured their worst shooting performance this season, going 19-for-60 (31.7%) from the field and 5-for-33 (15.2%) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack drilled nine 3-pointers and had five players finish with double-figure scoring.

As a result, UNC fell four spots in KenPom down to No. 32 and three spots in the NET Rankings to No. 28. In the NCAA’s media mock bracket released Thursday, North Carolina was evaluated with the injuries to Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar under consideration. For this reason, North Carolina was mock-selected as a No. 6 seed. Wilson remains out indefinitely, while Veesaar has missed the last two games

Looking at Syracuse: With a 6-8 ACC record, the Orange sit 12th in the conference standings, but are only a half game back from ninth place. In its four games since playing UNC, Syracuse went 2-2, with a pair of wins at home and a pair of losses on the road. The Orange traveled to Charlottesville the weekend after playing North Carolina and fell 75-59 to No. 18 Virginia. 

The loss gave Syracuse a 1-6 record in its last seven games, until reversing the trend with back-to-back wins over California, 107-100 in overtime, and a one-point win over SMU, 79-78. The Orange then traveled back to the Triangle for a Big Monday matchup with No. 3 Duke, which ran Syracuse out of Cameron Indoor, 101-64. 

Freeman Could Further Expose UNC’s Frontcourt Deficiencies, Kingz Hot of Late: Despite being at the top of the scouting report for UNC the first time around, Donnie Freeman still produced 23 points and eight rebounds in 35 minutes to lead Syracuse in both stats.

That, of course, was with North Carolina’s starting frontcourt playing. Now, with Wilson out and Veesaar’s return to play still questionable, limiting Freeman becomes much more difficult — especially trying to do so without Zayden High or Jarin Stevenson getting in foul trouble for the Tar Heels.

When teams have been able to be physical with Freeman in the post or bring help to force him to pass, he has struggled. Against a Cavalier frontcourt that gave Veesaar first-half troubles at Virginia, Freeman finished 2-for-11 from the field and scored a season-low five points. Likewise, playing against a tall and physical Blue Devil team, he tallied single-digit scoring again for only the third time this season, and a low in rebounding with three. 

Given UNC’s injury situation, which offers virtually no depth at the four or five, Zayden High and Jarin Stevenson likely can’t play Freeman as physically, or if they do so, must be smart about when and how to avoid fouls. 

Aside from Freeman, the trio of Nate Kingz, Naithan George and JJ Starling have supplied their usual double-figure scoring efforts. Over the last four games, Kingz specifically has seen an uptick in his offense, averaging over 15 points per game, including his third ACC game of 27 or more points against Cal. 

Though he only scored eight points at the Smith Center, Kingz is capable of catching a hot hand from deep. The senior guard has made three or more 3-pointers in nine games this season, including two of his last three outings. With UNC’s guard play struggling to shoot the ball of late, having to play catch-up if Kingz starts hot will not help. 

Last Meeting: North Carolina played host to Syracuse earlier this month, and after building a 32-point lead midway through the second half, took its foot off the gas over the final 10 minutes. This allowed the Orange to cut UNC’s lead to six with under a minute to play, but the Tar Heels ultimately avoided disaster and outlasted Syracuse, 87-77. Wilson and Veesaar combined for 39 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels.

The win helped North Carolina improve to 19-7 all-time against the Orange and 15-4 since they joined the ACC. Inside the JMA Wireless Dome, UNC also has the edge with a 6-3 record over Syracuse.

Projected UNC Starters: 
3 Derek Dixon (Fr., 6-5, 200) — 5.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 35.2% 3pt
7 Seth Trimble (Sr., 6-3, 200) — 13.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg
44 Luka Bogavac (Jr., 6-6, 215) — 9.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.3 apg
15 Jarin Stevenson (Jr., 6-10, 215) — 7.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 29.4% 3pt
Questionable – 13 Henri Veesaar (Jr., 7-0, 225) — 16.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 44.8% 3pt

Top Tar Heel Reserves: 
0 Kyan Evans (Jr., 6-2, 175) — 4.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.9 apg
1 Zayden High (So., 6-10, 230) — 2.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg
4 Jaydon Young (Jr., 6-4, 200) — 2.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg
11 Jonathan Powell (So., 6-6, 190) — 4.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.9 apg, 36% 3pt

Projected Syracuse Starters:
1 Donnie Freeman (So., 6-9, 205) — 17.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.5 apg
2 JJ Starling (Sr., 6-4, 206) — 12 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 54.2% FT
4 Nate Kingz (Sr., 6-5, 190) — 11.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 36.8% 3pt
11 Naithan George (Jr., 6-3, 185) — 10.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.4 apg, 3.1 tpg
42 William Kyle (Sr., 6-9, 230) — 9.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.7 bpg

Top Orange Reserves:
0 Sadiq White Jr. (Fr., 6-9, 195) — 5.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 52.8% FT
5 Tyler Betsey (So., 6-8, 225) — 6.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 38.5%% 3pt 
7 Kiyan Anthony (Fr., 6-5, 185) — 8.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 26.1% 3pt

UNC Info:
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Syracuse Info:
Schedule/Results
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