Syracuse (15-9, 6-7 ACC) has an opportunity for a Quadrant 1 win when it takes on North Carolina on Tuesday.
Opponent: North Carolina (19-5, 11-2 ACC)
Date & Time: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m.
Location: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
TV: ESPN
PREDICTION
This is going to hurt.
#7 North Carolina (19-5, 11-2) sits atop the ACC and is one of the best teams in the country despite losing twice in their last four outings. Over the course of the season, the Tar Heels are a little better than average at shooting the ball, but have shown an elite defense and absolutely dominate on the glass, including on offense to more than help offset some of those shooting deficiencies.
And that pretty much meshes with Syracuse’s weaknesses. The Orange (15-9, 6-7) are an average team on offense, give opponents open shots on defense, and do a poor job on both backboards.
The first time the two teams met, SU had their second-worst shooting performance, third-worst defensive efficiency, and second-worst defensive rebounding performance of the season.
The end result was a 103-67 UNC victory that could have easily been worse, as Syracuse was down by 12 less than seven minutes into the game and by 27 points well before halftime.
And the Orange defense has been much worse the last four games. SU has allowed their last four opponents to shoot 59.8 percent from the field overall and 50 percent from 3-point range. Those four foes are also a combined +59 on the glass in those games. In the first meeting, North Carolina shot 48.1 percent overall, but just 26.9 percent from behind the arc, while owning a +23 rebounding margin.
In short, the Tar Heels are just about the last team Syracuse needs to see right now, and I predict they'll walk away with a 94-66 win over the Orange.
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