The Syracuse Orange faced off against the North Carolina Tar Heels tonight in Chapel Hill as part of Big Monday on ESPN. Syracuse started off on the wrong foot as it gave up an early 9-2 lead, forcing Boeheim to call timeout before the under 16 media break. That early run proved to be symbolic of the entire game as Syracuse dropped its fifth straight game to North Carolina in similar fashion to the four losses before it.

As stated, Syracuse gave up an early run but was able to fight back to make the game competitive. As soon as Syracuse made a run, UNC made a run of its own by hitting outside shots and crashing the offensive glass. Taking advantage of second chance points, North Carolina took a 42-30 lead into the break.

Syracuse came out with fire in the second half, erasing North Carolina’s 12 point lead with a 12-5 run. But once again North Carolina was able to respond with a run of its own to push the lead back to double-digits. Syracuse did a tremendous job of fighting back and making shots but ultimately the zone gave up 20 second chance points as the nation’s leading rebounding team owned the glass. The UNC win gave Roy Williams his No. 800 of all-time.

Stats

Tyler Lydon led the way with 26 while Andrew White finished with 15 points on five made triples. Tyus Battle scored 13 and Tyler Roberson added 6 points and 8 rebounds. Syracuse shot an impressive 41.7 percent from distance but got dismantled on the glass 44-24.

Next Up

Syracuse will now travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame on Saturday. That game tips at noon and will air on ESPN.