Quick Hitters - North Carolina vs. Syracuse (Senior Night)

Isaac Schade presents Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s thrilling 88-79 overtime victory over Syracuse on Senior Night.

Author:
Isaac Schade
Mar 1, 2022 12:20 AM EST

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s thrilling 88-79 overtime victory over Syracuse on Senior Night.

Highlights:

Condensed Game:

First, a quick update: Isaac Schade is now the host of Locked On Tar Heels, a daily podcast on the Locked On Network talking all things UNC. It releases in both an audio format and a video format. Click on the links below to check it out and please subscribe to help spread the word!

Now to the Quick Hitters:

For the fourth straight game (and second straight Saturday-Monday turnaround) Carolina did what they needed to hold serve in “can’t lose” situations to preserve their NCAA Tournament aspirations. The Heels feel good about where they’re at, but a win at Duke on Saturday would seal the deal.
Before we get to the NCAA Tournament though, we have to turn our attention to the ACC Tournament. This win assured Carolina a top-four seed and double-bye in next weekend's conference tournament in Brooklyn. They will start play on Saturday in the quarterfinals.
Carolina won this game but perhaps a better descriptor is “survived”. Carolina survived a career game from Syracuse’s Cole Swider who poured in 36 points (one off the Smith Center record for an opponent) before fouling out in overtime due to what was a tactical error from Jim Boeheim.
Senior Night got off to a great start, honoring Leaky Black, Brady Manek, and Ryan McAdoo. As is tradition, McAdoo had the opportunity to start, and did so in place of Caleb Love. Unfortunately the start of the game itself was not rainbows and roses – Syracuse jumped out to a 9-0 lead and ultimately hit their first six shots. The Heels fought back though and eventually tied the game at 24, took a 29-28 lead, and didn’t trail again in the first half.

Despite the Senior Night festivities, Leaky Black’s playing status was in question due to his hyperextended right knee suffered on Saturday at NC State. Thank goodness he was able to play tonight because Carolina does not win this game without perhaps the most complete Danny Green-ish two-way performances of his career. He had near triple-double numbers – eight points, seven rebounds, seven assists, plus three blocks, a steal, and just two turnovers. He hit two three-pointers as Carolina was fighting to get back in the game after Syracuse’s opening 9-0 run. Perhaps most importantly, Black limited Buddy Boeheim to “just” 14 points on 5-13 shooting. 14 might not seem like being limited, but Boeheim is second in the ACC with 19 points a game.

Caleb Love had a rough shooting night. And I mean bad. He hit his first attempt of the game after checking in for Ryan McAdoo and it looked like it might be a Caleb Love night. But then he hit just one of his next 13 shots. Until closing time. Over the course of the final 7:23 (end of regulation and overtime) he took five shots and made four of them, including three threes. The first of those threes gave the Heels a one-point lead with 2:23 to go. The second was a deeeeeeep three with just eight ticks left to give the Heels a two-point lead and seemingly the win. It wasn’t, as Joe Girard hit a baseline jumper on the other end to send the game to overtime.
Overtime began with Carolina running off eight in a row which mirrored the way Syracuse began regulation. Given the Tar Heels’ free throw capability this season, that eight-point cushion was more than enough.

How many times this season has Caleb Love overcome an otherwise poor shooting night to hit a massive shot in the closing minutes? It’s been impressive to watch.
Not only was Love not deterred from shooting late in the game, but he also didn’t allow his poor shooting to affect his floor game. The sophomore guard finished with three assists and ZERO turnovers.
Love’s assists and lack of turnovers helped set the tone for the rest of the team. UNC had just eight turnovers, their fewest since the first Duke matchup. Additionally, Carolina had their highest assist percentage of the season: 21 assists on 29 made baskets (72.4%). The previous high was 67.9% against Virginia.
So many Tar Heels contributed in massive ways that we’re just getting to Armando Bacot’s yet-again heroic achievements. Tonight’s double-double tied him with Brice Johnson for the most ever by a Tar Heel in a single season (23). Bacot started slow, but bided his time and ultimately finished the game with 17 points and 18 rebounds.

Believe it or not, Bacot has grabbed 15 or more rebounds in four straight games and is now only 20 away from becoming just the second-ever Tar Heel to reach 400 in a single season.
Strange bench rotation tonight (or lack thereof): Outside of Ryan McAdoo starting the game for Senior Night, Puff Johnson was the only regular bench player to see the court. No Kerwin Walton. No Dontrez Styles. No D’Marco Dunn. Bacot, Manek, Black, and Davis each played over 40 minutes. Thankfully though, Syracuse also had four players over 40 minutes, including Joe Girard and Buddy Boeheim playing the entire 45.
Carolina has a streak of nine straight games in which they’ve missed no more than five free throws. What an asset the Tar Heels’ free throw shooting has been this season.
Against the Syracuse zone (which looked like they were working to close off the high post more than usual tonight) Carolina would need to be crisp with their passing and shoot well from three. We’ve already talked about the assist numbers, but the three-point shooting was thankfully there as well. UNC hit 14 of their 36 attempts, which will win you a lot of college basketball games.
One of the luxuries for this Tar Heel team is multiple passers with height equipped to operate out of the high post against Syracuse’s zone. Leaky Black, Brady Manek, and Armando Bacot are each more than capable of doing so. They proved it tonight combining for 12 assists and just two turnovers.

The first half turnaround was not instigated by Carolina starting to hit shots, but by a clear commitment to defense. That defense led to a 9-0 UNC run and a 35-28 lead. The Heels showed that same intensity in overtime. If the team could find a way to tap into that for 40 minutes on a consistent basis, we would be watching a completely different version of the 2021-22 Tar Heels.
Perhaps the most comical part of the evening was Joe Girard complaining that RJ Davis flopped after Girard was whistled for an offensive foul. Why comical? Because as Girard could be seen saying “flop”, you could also see Davis on the other end of the court having blood cleaned off his face by Doug Halverson. Flop indeed.
Carolina now has the rest of the week to rest up before traveling to Durham to ruin a retirement party on Saturday.

Box Score

Hubert Davis postgame press conference

Hubert Davis - Post vs. Syracuse (2.28.22)

Players postgame press conference

Armando Bacot

Caleb Love

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Remember to check in for Quick Hitters after every North Carolina basketball game. Next up is a road game against Duke on Saturday, March 5 to close out the regular season. Tip is at 6:00pm ET on ESPN.