Syracuse basketball didn't play with a whole lot of energy and fight on Saturday afternoon in Central New York, during a rematch with No. 16 North Carolina, which had knocked off the Orange by 10 points earlier this month in Chapel Hill, N.C.
On Saturday, the 'Cuse tried to hang around with UNC, which was minus its best player, freshman big man Caleb Wilson. Before an announced crowd of more than 23,000, North Carolina was pretty much in control throughout this Atlantic Coast Conference encounter, although the Orange managed to tie the game at 44 points each with roughly 12 minutes to go in regulation.
But UNC would then go on a sizable run to halt any shot of the 'Cuse picking up an upset over a ranked foe and landing a quadrant-one victory. The result was a 77-64 win for North Carolina on the road, and the Orange went 0-2 this past week against the ACC's blue-blood schools, the Tar Heels and No. 3 Duke.
Syracuse basketball (15-13 overall, 6-9 in ACC) is now a mere 7-20 in its all-time series against North Carolina (21-6 overall, 9-5 in ACC). Up next, the Orange will travel to Wake Forest on Saturday, Feb. 28, with television coverage on The CW Network.
Syracuse basketball looked listless in a setback to UNC.
Similar to the loss to the Blue Devils last Monday evening, from my perspective, the Orange was getting outhustled by the Tar Heels, which is unacceptable. I get the 'Cuse program is frustrated, but you can't throw in the towel.
Speaking of frustrated, sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman clearly was on Saturday, and he picked up a second technical foul, and was ejected, with fewer than two minutes left in the game.
North Carolina shot 51.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc but just 53.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Orange connected on 42.4 percent from the field, a woeful 17.6 percent from downtown and 68.8 percent from the charity stripe.
In other statistical categories, the Tar Heels led 13-4 in points off turnovers, 42-32 in paint points, 19-9 in fast-break points, 38-34 in total rebounds, 5-4 in steals and 10-6 in assists. The 'Cuse led 8-7 in second-chance points and 5-4 in blocks. Each team had 18 bench points and 10 turnovers.
Only two Syracuse basketball players scored in double figures. Senior shooting guard J.J. Starling was great, tallying 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. Sophomore forward Tyler Betsey chipped in 10 points. Freeman had nine points and seven rebounds.