Syracuse basketball has lost two straight, at Duke and at Georgia Tech, and now the Orange gets set to host North Carolina on Monday evening at 7 pm from the Carrier Dome as the 2020-21 regular season comes to a conclusion for the ‘Cuse this week.
The Tar Heels (15-8, 9-5) are coming off arguably their best win of this term, as UNC defeated Atlantic Coast Conference leader Florida State at home this past Saturday. North Carolina is presently tied with Clemson for fifth place in the league standings.
For the Orange (13-8, 7-7), meanwhile, it is currently hovering around the No. 9 spot in the ACC race. After its defeats at the hands of the Blue Devils and, most recently, Georgia Tech, Syracuse basketball is pretty far removed from the proverbial bubble for the 2021 Big Dance, according to bracketologists.
From my perspective, the ‘Cuse has to conquer the Tar Heels and Clemson, which the Orange plays in Central New York on March 3, before Syracuse basketball can realistically think of getting back onto the right side of the bubble.
Even then, the ‘Cuse may have to capture the ACC Tournament, or at least reach the title game, to re-enter the picture for the upcoming March Madness.
Syracuse basketball will face a huge challenge from the North Carolina big men.
In its seven-point loss to the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta over the weekend, the Orange allowed a whopping 50 points to Georgia Tech in the second half.
Head coach Jim Boeheim attributed the team’s poor performance after the intermission to the ‘Cuse playing sub-par interior defense, and Syracuse basketball also coughed up way too many turnovers that led to easy transition points for the Yellow Jackets.
I believe that the Orange can clean up its careless mistakes versus the Tar Heels, but I’m really concerned about the ‘Cuse defense in the paint.
North Carolina is annually one of the top rebounding squads in the country, and that holds true in 2020-21 as well. Since UNC is not a stellar 3-point shooting group, if the Tar Heels are able to dominate on the offensive glass, that provides North Carolina with additional opportunities to score, whether inside or on the perimeter.
Earlier this season, Syracuse basketball actually played one of its better contests of the year in falling to UNC on the road, 81-75. The dilemma for the Orange is that when the ‘Cuse gets out-rebounded, it doesn’t succeed. And in that previous encounter between these two teams, the Tar Heels crushed Syracuse basketball on the boards.
If somehow, some way, the ‘Cuse can keep things close on the glass, then maybe the Orange can knock off North Carolina. The Tar Heels commit nearly 15 turnovers per affair, which means that Syracuse basketball has to notch a sizable amount of points off of UNC miscues.
Boeheim recently said that his squad doesn’t possess many bad losses, and that’s correct. But the Orange is also lacking in high-quality triumphs.
The ‘Cuse is 5-14 all-time against North Carolina, and I’m not super optimistic that Syracuse basketball has the interior firepower to contain the Tar Heels’ big men.