Teams: Syracuse Orange (7-2, 1-1) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (7-4, 2-2)
Day & Time: Tuesday, January 12, 9 p.m. ET
Location: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Line: N/A just yet.
TV/Streaming: ACC Network, WatchESPN
Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3
North Carolina Blog: Tar Heel Blog
Rivalry: 13-5, North Carolina
Current Streak: 1, Syracuse
First Meeting: Perhaps somewhat fittingly, these two legendary programs met for the first time during the 1957 NCAA tournament in what would now be the Elite Eight. Syracuse came up short, losing 67-58 to UNC. The Tar Heels would eventually win the NCAA tournament that year, defeating Kansas by a point.
Last Meeting: Syracuse snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Tar Heels with a 81-53 win during the second round of the ACC tournament on March 11, 2020. Elijah Hughes had fun, scoring 27 points and grabbing eight boards. Bourama Sidibe added a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. That would be the last game of the 2020 ACC tournament before the event was cancelled due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Head Coaches: Syracuse - Jim Boeheim (45th year, 1,072-401) | North Carolina - Roy Williams (18th year, 474-156)
Coach Bio: Williams started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant to Dean Smith in 1978 at his alma mater in North Carolina. He served on Smith’s coaching staff for 10 years before moving on to take the head coaching job at Kansas. Williams led Kansas to an NCAA tournament appearance every year leading the program except for his first season. The Jayhawks never won the tournament under Williams but made the Final Four three times and the championship game once - the 2003 loss to Syracuse.
Following that 2003 season, Williams left Kansas to take over as the head coach of North Carolina. The Tar Heels have won three national championships under Williams and have made the NCAA tournament every year under his lead except the 2009-10 season, where UNC was runner-ups in the NIT. Williams joins Eddie Sutton as the only coaches to win the AP coach of the year award at two different schools.
Last Year: North Carolina severely dipped in form during the 2019-20 season, suffering its first losing campaign under Williams with a 14-19 record. The Tar Heels also suffered their second losing record in conference play with a 6-14 record and finishing tied for last in the ACC. UNC’s season ended with the aforementioned loss to Syracuse in the ACC tournament.
Last Game: Andrew Platek scored with three seconds left in regulation to give UNC a 67-65 win over Miami on January 5. Both of North Carolina’s wins in conference play have been by a single possession. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, with both teams shooting under 35% from the floor.
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Day’Ron Sharpe has been a force since the schedule has flipped to ACC play for the Tar Heels. He’s averaging 12.5 points and 10 rebounds per game in conference play. He’s also taken the most field goal attempts in ACC play for UNC, so expect a lot of offense to flow through the 6-foot-11, 265-pound center. Sharpe also has four more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds in conference play.
If Syracuse Wins: We hope no one else has to sacrifice a tooth to secure a win.
If Syracuse Loses: We petition for Syracuse games to be shown on Nickelodeon so that we may have fun again.
Fun Fact: Syracuse’s only regular-season conference win over the Tar Heels came in 2014, the first season the Orange were in the ACC. 20 points from C.J. Fair and a double-double from Jerami Grant gave Syracuse a 57-45 win at the dome.