North Carolina (14-6 SU, 7-12-1 ATS, 6-3 ACC) travels to Central New York to take on Syracuse (13-7 SU, 11-9 ATS, 6-3 ACC) on Tuesday night at 9pmET from JMA Wireless Dome.
North Carolina needed overtime to beat the Orange 88-79 as an 8-point favorite at home in their only meeting last season.
North Carolina (24 KenPom) was picked by many to win the National Championship (yours truly) and they certainly haven't looked like a contender with six losses. But when you look closer at their losses, they were to Alabama and Iowa State on neutral sites and Indiana on the road. They also lost at Virginia Tech so from late November to early December, they lost four straight, which is a rare one for the Tar Heels. They also had losses to Virginia and an improved Pitt team on the road. The point is that North Carolina is still a good basketball, but they have struggled against the better teams in the ACC and in non-conference play.
??: Highlights from yesterday's 80-69 win ?? NC State pic.twitter.com/1xMerMHhIa
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 22, 2023
They've won three straight over Louisville (80-59), Boston College (72-64) and North Carolina State (80-69) on Saturday at home. In the NC State game, Wolfpack guard Terquaivion Smith was driving to the basket in the second half and was fouled by Leaky Black. Smith tried to finish a left-handed drive but fell backward and landed hard on the floor. Smith injured his arm and neck and was carted off the court. Fortunately, Smith did not suffer a major injury. R.J. Davis (26pts) and Armando Bacot (23pts, 18 rebs) led the Tar Heels in a workman-like effort. UNC shot just 37% from the field and 22% (4-18) from long range. But they did shoot 36 of 39 from the line (92%).
UNC's weakness right now is their three-point shooting (31.6%). Their major strength is on the boards where they rank second in the ACC with a +5.5 rebounding margin. Bacot, who has struggled with ankle issues this season, averages 17.8 points and 11.6 rebounds on 58.1% shoo ting to lead the team. Davis adds 16.8 points per game on 45% shooting (38.8% 3pt). They can really use guard Caleb Lobe to become more efficient as he's averaging 16.3 points on just 37.7% shooting (26.8% 3pt).