Malachi Richardson and Kennedy Meeks are foes turned friends

Syracuse basketball and UNC battled at the Carrier Dome Wednesday night, while Malachi Richardson and Kennedy Meeks played together in the G-League.

Nearly two years ago, fresh off arguably the biggest March Madness upset in recent memory over the No. 1 seed Virginia Cavaliers, the 23-13 Syracuse Orange and 33-5 North Carolina Tar Heels battled things out in the Final Four.

Despite a memorable 14 points and five rebounds from Malachi Richardson, the game was one to forget. Thanks to 15 points and eight rebounds on a tremendous 7-of-9 shooting from Kennedy Meeks, the Tar Heels took down the Orange 83-66 in round five of the big dance.

Fast forward two years. The No. 10 Tar Heels stormed the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night, while former ACC foes, Richardson and Meeks, found themselves playing together for Toronto’s G-League affiliate in Mississauga, Ontario, the hometown of Syracuse’ freshman phenom, Oshae Brissett.

While Joel Berry II, Theo Pinson, Luke Maye, and Kenny Williams all played for the Tar Heels in 2016, just Berry and Pinson played valuable minutes in that Final Four matchup. Two years later, it took strong efforts from all four of them to defeat the Orange in the Carrier Dome. Pinson and Berry II alone combined for 41 points.

For Syracuse…

Frank Howard is the lone Orange player that remains from that Final Four run. In Syracuse’s 83-66 loss, Howard missed both of his attempts from the floor and played just five minutes. Two years later, the Junior guard kept Syracuse in a game that should have never been close. The Suitland, Maryland product played all 40 minutes, hit a dream-like five three-pointers on 10 tries, and finished with 23 points.

Wednesday night, while facing fellow Syracuse alum John Gillon of the Erie BayHawks, Richardson scored 13 points on an impressive 3-of-6 shooting from downtown and grabbed three rebounds in the Raptors 905’s 104-94 win. Additionally, Meeks also turned in an impressive performance, scoring 12 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and collecting four steals in the win.

Both Meeks and Richardson, who will now see regular time with one another, have played extremely well over their short-lived careers in the minor leagues. Through 34 career games, Meeks is averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds on 50% shooting. Richardson, who has played just 20 games in the G-League, has strong career-averages of 16 points and four rebounds, all while shooting a pristine 40% from three.

While the Orange were unable to get revenge against the defending champion Tar Heels on Wednesday night, two former ACC rivals teamed up in a winning effort at the next level. Hopefully, the two NBA hopefuls will soon have regular roles at the next level and continue to play together on basketball’s biggest stage.

In the ACC…

The Atlantic Coast Conference, the undisputed best conference in college basketball, is notorious for its alumni being prepared for to play professional basketball once done with college. That was deemed accurate during last night’s game.

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While Syracuse, an above-average team playing in an overpowered conference, continues to try and make a run ahead of Selection Sunday, we should continue to see plenty of dominance from ACC alumni across the NBA and G-League.