Syracuse Basketball: The boards battle is pivotal versus UNC

Syracuse basketball will face a struggling North Carolina crew in the Orange’s home finale of the 2019-20 regular season this Saturday afternoon.

Syracuse basketball, throughout the 2019-20 campaign to date, has usually fared well when it keeps things close in the rebounding department. Naturally, then, it makes sense that the Orange typically loses when its foes dominate on the glass.

That theme will prove front and center this Saturday afternoon when the ‘Cuse (16-12, 9-8) welcomes North Carolina (11-17, 4-13) to the Hill in the last regular-stanza tilt inside the Carrier Dome for Syracuse.

To put it succinctly, the Tar Heels have put forth a mediocre term so far in 2019-20. In all fairness, though, UNC had to deal with star freshman guard Cole Anthony missing a bunch of affairs due to an unfortunate injury.

Anthony is back in the line-up, and he’s certainly one of the premier newbies in the Atlantic Coast Conference, averaging 19.4 points, 6.2 boards, and 3.8 assists every 40 minutes.

Yes, it’s true that the Tar Heels are in last place in the league race, while the Orange is currently tied with Notre Dame for fifth place.

North Carolina, with an NCAA NET rating of No. 95, has surely racked up an abundance of setbacks in 2019-20, although numerous of them came by only a handful of points. Conversely, the Tar Heels boast several solid successes, versus the likes of Oregon, UCLA, Alabama, Notre Dame, and N.C. State twice.

For any ‘Cuse fanatic to ponder that UNC will amount to a cake-walk for Syracuse, think again. With Anthony in tow, the Tar Heels are a formidable opponent, despite their overall record. Plus, North Carolina has owned the Orange of late, winning eight straight in the series.

In my humble opinion, this ACC bout will revolve around rebounding. The Tar Heels are a poor shooting team from the field as a whole, the charity stripe, and the 3-point line. What that likely means is that a ton of boards will prove available for the taking.

Historically, UNC is one of the premier rebounding groups in the conference and across the country, and that holds true in 2019-20. At this juncture, the Tar Heels are No. 1 in the ACC in total boards, offensive boards and defensive boards per game.

The ‘Cuse, on the flip side, hovers somewhere in the middle of the league pack in all three categories as it pertains to the glass. If North Carolina flexes its muscles in the rebounding arena, that could result in extra possessions for the Tar Heels, and a long afternoon for Syracuse.

Besides obviously containing Anthony, the Orange’s forwards and centers in the 2-3 zone will have to pay particular attention to UNC’s forward tandem of junior Garrison Brooks and freshman Armando Bacot. Brooks collects 15.7 points and 8.5 boards per encounter. For Bacot, it’s 9.7 points and 8.2 rebounds.

The ‘Cuse has a juicy occasion in Central New York to snap its frustrating skid against the Tar Heels, and I believe that the war on the glass is the determining factor.