Syracuse basketball should replicate what it did to UNC in last outing

Remember when Syracuse basketball and UNC played the final game of the 2020 ACC tourney?

What Syracuse basketball did to North Carolina in the second round of the 2020 ACC Tournament truly seems like a lifetime ago.

The Orange snapped a nine-affair setback streak to the Tar Heels this past March, destroying UNC in a somewhat surprising manner, with a final count of 81-53.

The ‘Cuse was slated to face Louisville in a quarterfinal match-up of the ACC Tournament the next day, however, the novel coronavirus pandemic would halt this event, all of college basketball and basically the entire sports world.

As such, the Orange’s crushing of North Carolina represented the last game that got played in the 2020 ACC Tournament. Syracuse basketball would finish 18-14 a season ago, in a stanza where it wouldn’t have made the Big Dance unless it went on a huge run in the ACC tourney.

Still, to get the best of UNC in such a blow-out fashion was a positive way for the ‘Cuse to wrap up its 2019-20 term, despite the circumstances unfolding in the United States and worldwide.

Now here we are, about 10 months later, in the middle of a global pandemic that has sadly claimed far too many lives. If we’re simply talking about college basketball, well, this campaign has proven a challenge for Syracuse basketball and its peers in the ACC as well as nationwide.

The entire Orange squad has had to go on pause due to Covid-19 protocols twice, with multiple games postponed. Initially, the ‘Cuse and the Tar Heels were supposed to suit up in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Jan. 2, but the Orange’s most recent pause forced a postponement.

Then, a positive Covid-19 test within the Clemson program resulted in the postponement of the Tigers coming to the Hill on Tuesday night, which is why Syracuse basketball (7-2) is traveling to North Carolina (7-4) for a 9 pm league encounter on Jan. 12, with television coverage on the ACC Network.

UNC, which was awful in 2019-20, has been a bit shaky in the current season as well. Its losses are to Texas, Iowa, N.C. State and Georgia Tech, although all of those defeats were either on the road or at a neutral site.

The Tar Heels did defeat Stanford and Kentucky earlier in the 2020-21 term, and all-time North Carolina is 13-5 against the ‘Cuse in their series together.

Senior center Bourama Sidibe, who injured his knee in the Orange’s season-opening victory versus Bryant, is a game-time decision on whether he will be available, according to a Syracuse basketball spokesman.

Odds-makers anointed the Tar Heels as a 3.5-point favorite as of Monday evening, with ESPN’s Basketball Power Index saying that UNC has about a 57 percent chance to prevail.

Even though North Carolina isn’t presently ranked in the major polls, it would still be a resume-building win for the Orange should it come out on top.

As of Jan. 11, the ‘Cuse is No. 42 in the NET ratings, while the Tar Heels are No. 53. Over at kenpom.com, Syracuse basketball is No. 39, and UNC is No. 29.